Artist - Song - Album (Label) * indicates Canadian Content
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Wizaard - Mountain of the Underground* - Starfish Buffet (Independent)
Cygnets - Rouge* - Alone/Together (Negative Gain)
Aiwass - Jealous* - Demo (Independent)
Twin Rains - Flash Burn* - Automatic Hand (Independent)
The Hidden Cameras - Counting Stars* - Home on Native Land (Outside)
Big Dik Blak - Come On, Let's Go* - Tales from the Wreck Deck (Independent)
Ace Martens - Baby Blue* - Palm Springs (Independent)
Foonyap - Mourning Coup* - Palimpsest (Independent)
No Museums - The Hospital* - The Drifting Knives (Independent)
Knots - Long Road* - Four Years in the Shade (Independent)
Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers - Army Girls Gone Wild - Mine's Not a Holy War (Cordless)
Monday, December 19, 2016
Sunday, December 18, 2016
DNTTA Playlist for December 2, 2016
Artist - Song - Album (Label) * indicates Canadian Content
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Brahja Waldman - Bushido* - Wisdomatic (Fast Speaking)
Fond of Tigers - Uninhabit* - Uninhabit (Drip Audio)
Fine Young Cannibals - Love For Sale - Red Hot and Blue (BMG)
John Scofield - Mama Tried - Country for Old Men (Impulse)
The Bad Plus - Maps - It's Hard (Okeh)
Bernard Hermann - Twisted Nerve - Kill Bill Vol. 1 OST (Maverick)
Andrew Downing - Head Start* - Otterville (Independent)
Retired - Aging Swindler* - Crimes Against Jazz (Raw Materials)
Anna Atkinson - The Water* - Sky Stacked Full (Independent)
Lorenz Kellhuber Trio - Consequences - State of Mind (Blackbird)
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Brahja Waldman - Bushido* - Wisdomatic (Fast Speaking)
Fond of Tigers - Uninhabit* - Uninhabit (Drip Audio)
Fine Young Cannibals - Love For Sale - Red Hot and Blue (BMG)
John Scofield - Mama Tried - Country for Old Men (Impulse)
The Bad Plus - Maps - It's Hard (Okeh)
Bernard Hermann - Twisted Nerve - Kill Bill Vol. 1 OST (Maverick)
Andrew Downing - Head Start* - Otterville (Independent)
Retired - Aging Swindler* - Crimes Against Jazz (Raw Materials)
Anna Atkinson - The Water* - Sky Stacked Full (Independent)
Lorenz Kellhuber Trio - Consequences - State of Mind (Blackbird)
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Forgotten Music #23: Lone Justice - "Ways to Be Wicked"
Since I'm currently reviewing the latest Drive-By Truckers album for Earshot online, I got in the mood for some classic roots rock. So I thought of Lone Justice.
Back in the early 80s, anything that didn't fit into the pop and rock charts tended to be lumped into the new wave genre, regardless if the band sounded new wave or not. Los Angeles' roots-punk bands often had this problem. They weren't new wave bands, but didn't fit into radio, so they got called new wave.
Los Angeles has a vibrant and varied mishmash of sounds in the 80s. The style of music that Lone Justice did was often called cowpunk, with other bands like X, The Blasters and Arizona's venerable Meat Puppets doing similar styles. Lone Justice were formed by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and vocalist Maria McKee. They were joined by stellar session musicians, bassist Marvin Etzioni and drummer Don Hefflington, who had played in Emmylou Harris' band. With the backing of Linda Ronstadt and frequent guest guitarist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's band, they got signed to Geffen Records, with the thought they'd be huge.
Their debut self titled album came out in 1985, to critical acclaim. They set into a tour opening for U2, but their fabulous debut album failed to click with anyone. They were too in the middle of the punk and roots crowds to appeal to either of them.
The band split up, leaving McKee as the only remaining member. She put together a new version of Lone Justice for Shelter, their second album, in 1986. McKee's new band abandoned the cowpunk and roots rock sound they started with, and instead adopted a more generic new wave sound. This album, too, failed to excite audiences, and the band broke up for good afterwards.
McKee set off on a solo career afterwards, which gained her much more success. Her 1990 song, "Show Me Heaven", from the Days of Thunder soundtrack, went to #1 on the UK charts. She has five studio albums to her credit and has written songs for Feargal Sharkey, The Dixie Chicks and Bette Midler.
"Ways to Be Wicked" comes from 1985's Lone Justice, and was written in part by Tom Petty. It definitely had Petty's signature sound all over it.
Back in the early 80s, anything that didn't fit into the pop and rock charts tended to be lumped into the new wave genre, regardless if the band sounded new wave or not. Los Angeles' roots-punk bands often had this problem. They weren't new wave bands, but didn't fit into radio, so they got called new wave.
Los Angeles has a vibrant and varied mishmash of sounds in the 80s. The style of music that Lone Justice did was often called cowpunk, with other bands like X, The Blasters and Arizona's venerable Meat Puppets doing similar styles. Lone Justice were formed by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and vocalist Maria McKee. They were joined by stellar session musicians, bassist Marvin Etzioni and drummer Don Hefflington, who had played in Emmylou Harris' band. With the backing of Linda Ronstadt and frequent guest guitarist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's band, they got signed to Geffen Records, with the thought they'd be huge.
Their debut self titled album came out in 1985, to critical acclaim. They set into a tour opening for U2, but their fabulous debut album failed to click with anyone. They were too in the middle of the punk and roots crowds to appeal to either of them.
The band split up, leaving McKee as the only remaining member. She put together a new version of Lone Justice for Shelter, their second album, in 1986. McKee's new band abandoned the cowpunk and roots rock sound they started with, and instead adopted a more generic new wave sound. This album, too, failed to excite audiences, and the band broke up for good afterwards.
McKee set off on a solo career afterwards, which gained her much more success. Her 1990 song, "Show Me Heaven", from the Days of Thunder soundtrack, went to #1 on the UK charts. She has five studio albums to her credit and has written songs for Feargal Sharkey, The Dixie Chicks and Bette Midler.
"Ways to Be Wicked" comes from 1985's Lone Justice, and was written in part by Tom Petty. It definitely had Petty's signature sound all over it.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
DNTTA Playlist for November 25, 2016
Artist - Song - Album (Label) * indicates Canadian Content
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Circlesquare - Dancers* - Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
OneOverZero - Life Inside a Moment* - Chimera (Independent)
A Shell in the Pit - Atlantis* - Ohklos OST (Independent)
Texture and Light - Theft of the Sky* - Inner Space Odyssey (Independent)
Hello Moth - A Song About Transcience* - Slave in the Stone (Independent)
Phantogram - Barking Dog - Three (Republic)
YACHT - White Mirror - I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler (Downtown)
Goldroom - Underwater - West of the West (Glassnote)
M.I.A. - Visa - AIM (Interscope)
Santigold - Banshee - 99 cents (Atlantic)
A Tribe Called Red - The Virus* - We Are the Halluci Nation (Pirates Blend)
Le Couleur - Starlite* - P.O.P. (Lisbon Lux)
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Circlesquare - Dancers* - Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
OneOverZero - Life Inside a Moment* - Chimera (Independent)
A Shell in the Pit - Atlantis* - Ohklos OST (Independent)
Texture and Light - Theft of the Sky* - Inner Space Odyssey (Independent)
Hello Moth - A Song About Transcience* - Slave in the Stone (Independent)
Phantogram - Barking Dog - Three (Republic)
YACHT - White Mirror - I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler (Downtown)
Goldroom - Underwater - West of the West (Glassnote)
M.I.A. - Visa - AIM (Interscope)
Santigold - Banshee - 99 cents (Atlantic)
A Tribe Called Red - The Virus* - We Are the Halluci Nation (Pirates Blend)
Le Couleur - Starlite* - P.O.P. (Lisbon Lux)
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
DNTTA Playlist for November 18, 2016
Artist - Song - Album (Label) * indicates Canadian Content
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Francis Cheer - Find a Light* - Black White and Grey (Independent)
Concrete Blonde - Everybody Knows* - Pump Up the Volume OST (RCA)
The Handsome Family - Famous Blue Raincoat* - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man OST (Verve Forecast)
Sebastian Owl - Only for Tonight* - Captain Tomorrow and the Dream Orphans (Independent)
SIRR - Shoot the Buffalo* - Begat (Independent)
Fox Opera - Wild Wilderness* - Nowhere Native (Independent)
Elizabeth - Black Elvis* - Death to Rebels! (Independent)
Cygnets - Modern Youth* - Isolator (Independent)
Deap Vally - Smile More - Femijism (Dine Alone)
Glass Animals - Mama's Gun - How to Be a Human Being (Wolf Tone)
Toddler - You Came Along* - Girls on My Mind (Independent)
Fuzz Monkey Reunion - On Call* - Birdbath (Independent)
Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca
--
Francis Cheer - Find a Light* - Black White and Grey (Independent)
Concrete Blonde - Everybody Knows* - Pump Up the Volume OST (RCA)
The Handsome Family - Famous Blue Raincoat* - Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man OST (Verve Forecast)
Sebastian Owl - Only for Tonight* - Captain Tomorrow and the Dream Orphans (Independent)
SIRR - Shoot the Buffalo* - Begat (Independent)
Fox Opera - Wild Wilderness* - Nowhere Native (Independent)
Elizabeth - Black Elvis* - Death to Rebels! (Independent)
Cygnets - Modern Youth* - Isolator (Independent)
Deap Vally - Smile More - Femijism (Dine Alone)
Glass Animals - Mama's Gun - How to Be a Human Being (Wolf Tone)
Toddler - You Came Along* - Girls on My Mind (Independent)
Fuzz Monkey Reunion - On Call* - Birdbath (Independent)
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Video Playlist #11: Bundle Up!
Better late than never, this month's playlist is appropriate with the vicious cold snap we currently have all over the province. It's -12 in town and another big snowstorm is set to hit Vancouver. Let's bundle up with some bands named after cold things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rV1SXgp0tc&list=PL0QOmyo1JgZfIQRGp6v55VCMTyVjYDL3t
1) Cold Cave - Black Magic Punks
2) Ice-T - Colors
3) Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle
4) Fresh Snow* - Proper Burial
5) Snow* - Girl I Been Hurt
6) Kid Frost - La Raza
7) Ice Cube - Today Was a Good Day
8) Iceburn Collective - Behind the Oblivious
9) Chilly Gonzalez* - White Keys
10) Snowblink* - Ambergris
11) Winterpills - Celia Johnson
12) Wintermitts* - Schoolyard
13) Wintersleep* - Amerika
14) Icicle Works - Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rV1SXgp0tc&list=PL0QOmyo1JgZfIQRGp6v55VCMTyVjYDL3t
1) Cold Cave - Black Magic Punks
2) Ice-T - Colors
3) Test Icicles - Circle Square Triangle
4) Fresh Snow* - Proper Burial
5) Snow* - Girl I Been Hurt
6) Kid Frost - La Raza
7) Ice Cube - Today Was a Good Day
8) Iceburn Collective - Behind the Oblivious
9) Chilly Gonzalez* - White Keys
10) Snowblink* - Ambergris
11) Winterpills - Celia Johnson
12) Wintermitts* - Schoolyard
13) Wintersleep* - Amerika
14) Icicle Works - Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)
Monday, December 5, 2016
Concert review: Future Temple/Weird Candle/Cygnets at Zack's
You'll forgive me for not posting a video playlist on Thursday, since I took a rare night out to see a live music show. Cygnets were back in town, one of the best Canadian new wave revivalists right now, and I had to see them.
The show took place at Zack's which, over the last few years, has been putting on a great deal of great, cutting edge shows. This was another one of those shows.
The show was supposed to start at 8 PM, but it actually started just after 9 PM, leaving everyone to do shorter sets. The excuse was technical difficulties, though every band save the first sounded fine.
Future Temple is a semi-local musician who wears many hats. Tonight he was wearing a noodly, industrial, experimental kind of a music hat. He spent most of the time sitting down, fiddling with knobs on a mixing board and sampler in an attempt to make something listenable. The only instruments he actually played were a guitar, which he played for about a minute to drop some audio into a sampler, and a trumpet, which he played for about 20 seconds. I think the idea was a electro-primitive style of industrial, but it failed pretty badly with no stage presence to speak of. I know the guy behind this project, and he's always been more "grand ideas" than "proper follow through". This was much like an art piece, but without the art.
Weird Candle were much more interesting. A two piece from Vancouver, they had a set up of guitarist and vocalist, with some live electronics with a drum machine. They reminded me a lot of Cabaret Voltaire, very early industrial styles, extremely high energy and confrontational. The lead singer sang into his mic like he was in a hardcore band, right up to his mouth and in a clenched fist, with shouted, angry, staccato lyrics. He lept up on the window sills, shouted at outside passers by and waded into the crowd like Iggy Pop. They only did about 5 songs, but you got the full blast of what they were all about. I got their album, Alter Ego, but it's only on tape, so it's going to take me a while to get to listen to it. Only tape deck I have right now is in the car, and it's just dropped below zero here...
Edmonton's Cygnets are part of the current awesome electro/retro scene there. Bands like them, MoonMuseum and Shout Out Out Out Out are making some of the best electro-rock in the country right now. They were touring on support of their latest album, Alone/Together, their second for US label Negative Gain Records. They were much more lively than the previous time I saw them, two years ago. They played at the Dirty Jersey in a barely publicized show, with only about 10 people total in the crowd. They were playing as a duo here (they're normally a trio), but there was no way to tell just from their sound. Using the same set up as Weird Candle, they pounded out lots of dark, moody new wave. They played a lot of material from their newest album, which is their best yet, dark, sensual brooding synth pop.
The show took place at Zack's which, over the last few years, has been putting on a great deal of great, cutting edge shows. This was another one of those shows.
The show was supposed to start at 8 PM, but it actually started just after 9 PM, leaving everyone to do shorter sets. The excuse was technical difficulties, though every band save the first sounded fine.
Future Temple is a semi-local musician who wears many hats. Tonight he was wearing a noodly, industrial, experimental kind of a music hat. He spent most of the time sitting down, fiddling with knobs on a mixing board and sampler in an attempt to make something listenable. The only instruments he actually played were a guitar, which he played for about a minute to drop some audio into a sampler, and a trumpet, which he played for about 20 seconds. I think the idea was a electro-primitive style of industrial, but it failed pretty badly with no stage presence to speak of. I know the guy behind this project, and he's always been more "grand ideas" than "proper follow through". This was much like an art piece, but without the art.
Weird Candle were much more interesting. A two piece from Vancouver, they had a set up of guitarist and vocalist, with some live electronics with a drum machine. They reminded me a lot of Cabaret Voltaire, very early industrial styles, extremely high energy and confrontational. The lead singer sang into his mic like he was in a hardcore band, right up to his mouth and in a clenched fist, with shouted, angry, staccato lyrics. He lept up on the window sills, shouted at outside passers by and waded into the crowd like Iggy Pop. They only did about 5 songs, but you got the full blast of what they were all about. I got their album, Alter Ego, but it's only on tape, so it's going to take me a while to get to listen to it. Only tape deck I have right now is in the car, and it's just dropped below zero here...
Edmonton's Cygnets are part of the current awesome electro/retro scene there. Bands like them, MoonMuseum and Shout Out Out Out Out are making some of the best electro-rock in the country right now. They were touring on support of their latest album, Alone/Together, their second for US label Negative Gain Records. They were much more lively than the previous time I saw them, two years ago. They played at the Dirty Jersey in a barely publicized show, with only about 10 people total in the crowd. They were playing as a duo here (they're normally a trio), but there was no way to tell just from their sound. Using the same set up as Weird Candle, they pounded out lots of dark, moody new wave. They played a lot of material from their newest album, which is their best yet, dark, sensual brooding synth pop.
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