Hammering Californian duo DEAP VALLY came back this year with a big bang and Femijism, their overall smoking successor to 2013 devilish debut album Sistrionix.
Ass-kicking single SMILE MORE , released last June, made my head moving in four directions but this stripped to the bone live rendition performed for British music magazine NME is another must-hear experience. A different drive and a different
feel than on record. A bare blues injection. Lindsey Troy (guitarist/singer) and Julie
Edwards (drummer/singer) are two of a very special kind. Going their own way
while doing it their own noisy way. This honest outburst electrifies your senses…
New album FEMIJISM was released last September. Explore it here oniTunes
“I don’t wanna be a reflection, I don’t need your direction…” (Amsterdam, 26th September)
Together Gwenllian Anthony (bass, mandolin), Hollie Singer (vocals, guitar), Eva Chelsea Free (vocals) & Heledd Owen (drums) are ADWAITH, an all female indie Welsh four-piece. Their record label Decidedly Records states: “ They are like the Welsh Slits playing Johnny Cash songs all set in a distinctively European post-punk urban setting. Trailblazing like pioneering Welsh artist such as Datblygu before them. This is the future of Welsh music right in front of us…”
The band’s very first single PWYSAU (means ‘weight’ in English) was written by Gwenllian Anthony for her teenage sister whose young heart was broken by a boy. It sounds like a moody, kind of comforting lullaby. Gripping sisterhood sentiments. With all this info I guess you don’t really need to understand the words, but I added the lyrics for those
who want to expand their language knowledge anyway….
Ca’ dy lygaid
Breuddwydia am anfeidredd
Os oes ofn arno ti, paid oedi
jwmpa mewn i’r gwely
gyda fi, gyda fi
Os ma pobol yn galw enwau
paid meddwl bod ti ar ben dy hun
os ma’r pwysau yn gormod i ymdopi dere,
ymlacio gyda fi
gyda fi, gyda fi
tin cofio’r bachgen o ti’n arfer ffansio
aeth e bant da Beca o Ty Croes
tin cofio faint mor ddigalon o ti
ond ‘drych fel ma bywyd yn mynd ymlaen, ymlaen, ymlaen
ymlaen, ymlaen
fi ‘llu gweld y tan yn dy lygaid
ond mae rhywbeth yn ei diffodd
mae’r cyfrinachau yn pwyso’n drwm ar dy ‘sgwyddau
Weekly firework to splinter Blue Mondays into a thousand pieces…
All dedicated BRMC fans know that these black leather rebels out of San Francisco are genuine rock & roll crusaders born to spread a passionate, sonic love around this troubled planet as a fever from the day they entered the scene back in 1998. They produced tons of smoking grooves by now to blow all future Blue Mondays into bloody space forever. Like this outstanding slam jam that does not know where to STOP. Start the engine here…
THE LEMON TWIGS – Botanique, Brussels – 25 November 2016
Music junkies among us already know by now that THE LEMON TWIGS are the next big thing. And this time the hype is genuinely substantiated. This is a dazzlingly promising four-piece of teenagers from Long Island, New York led by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario. Two extremely talented youngsters and, obviously, owners of an extensive record collection of all things great from the 60s to the 80s. From The Beatles to Queen, from Wings to Todd Rundgen, from Elton John’s balladry to Frank Zappa‘s jocose trickery
and all memorable pop and rock vibrations in between. Retro? Absolutely, but in a most genial way. At times you can hear snippets of all this magic in just one song. Sheer stellar creativity. They succeed where thousands failed before, because these yesterday’s sounds obsessed bros do not just copy/paste history. They compose rock opera like brilliance with the past’s very best era’s. They do not write songs, they build them brick by brick, they construct them step by step into something really special. If you didn’t hear it already check brand new album DO HOLLYWOOD here to find out what I try to stutter…
.
To be honest I had some doubts about the band reproducing their richly arranged and orchestrated pearls live on stage without falling apart now and then. They proved me wrong, completely. Without the safety and help of tapes, special digital effects or other extra whatsoever assistance (pretty common now these days) they stunned the sold out 200 capacity club from start to finish. The songs sounded more basic and rougher than on record and it worked big time! The intensity of execution was just overwhelming. The first half of the set felt like a Broadway musical with songs bouncing from slow to fast, from up to down, from quiet to loud, from harmonies to screams. AWESOME! The second part of the concert, after the d’Addario’s swapped instruments (drums/guitar), was an adrenalin injected rock & roll blast with Micheal moving like a classic guitar hero while handling his instrument like Chuck Berry. First class, elevating entertainment. WOW! Double WOW!
And these fresh punks bring it all with a high dose of natural coolness and unshakable confidence as if they do this since the day they jumped out of their rocking cradle. The
Lemon Twigs are on their way to meganess. They gonna be huge, really huge. …
Forty years ago today – 26 November 1978 – four teenage brats from the chaotic streets of London released this explosive hell of a soundtrack for a vexed country in deep economic and social trouble. The United Kingdom was a mess back then and sharp observer Johnny translated it brilliantly in the SEX PISTOLS‘ first glorious outburst. It didn’t changed the world nor Brittania yet at that very moment, also because record label EMI dropped the band soon after, but those punks would come back with a vengeance when Rotten wrote that ingeniously sarcastic love/hate song for that ‘she ain’t no human being’ creature who’s still in charge TODAY… 40 bloody years later! An ultra conservative and narcissistic old Queen, not in touch with reality anymore for ages, surrounded by extreme right-wing clowns who convinced a small majority of blind and nationalistic British people to go
back in time, away from Europe, back to the miserable days of the late seventies. Yes, indeed, the island will be a mess again. The knockout power of this terrific Pistols blast
didn’t age one fucking bit. A prophecy fulfilled… again! ANARCHY IN THE U.K.… again!
Right now ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
I am an anti-Christ
I am an anarchist
Don’t know what I want
But I know how to get it
I want to destroy the passerby
‘Cause I want to be anarchy
No dogs body
Anarchy for the U.K.
It’s coming sometime and maybe
I give a wrong time, stop a traffic line
Your future dream has sure been seen through
‘Cause I want to be anarchy
In the city
How many ways to get what you want
I use the best, I use the rest
I use the enemy
I use anarchy
Looking and listening back in time… memorable moments in sonic history!
‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ by THE BAND
On Thanksgiving Day – 40 years ago – 25 November 1976, legendary group THE BAND played an equally legendary farewell concert at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco
filmed by Martin Scorsese. There were so many famous guests and so many memorable performances that I sometimes forgot – watching the show on video (later on dvd) over and over or listening to the triple LP for the umpteenth time – what this magnificent event was actually all about. Yes, it was about the end (in its original and magical line-up) of an exceptional Americana collective of outstanding musicians. They called it a celebration. It definitely was. Hurry (so I can watch the dvd again), let’s celebrate the fortieth birthday of this historical music happening with one of my favorite moments…
‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ was on their eponymous second studio album, released in 1969…
LAS KELLIES – Kinky Star, Ghent, Belgium – 23 November 2016
LAS KELLIES was formed back in 2005 when three Argentinian girls started to play together just like that – out of the blue – with borrowed instruments, in a small venue somewhere in Buenos Aires, just for the fun of it. Yesterday and five praised albums later, the thrilling trio played my hometown Ghent (Belgium) for the second time as part of an extensive European tour to share brand new sixth longplayer FRIENDS & LOVERS. A mighty shaking collection of sunlit psych pop crackers. A record to lighten up your mood 365 days a year. Something we need in our bloody rainy Belgium! And the band was definitely aware of it too. Yesterday they just played every track of the fresh released LP! Oh, yeah, we loved it! You simply can’t resist their electrifying party mix of stirring beats, groovy bass splendor and blissful harmonies, performed with a cool and confident garage swagger. Spirited, addictive and sensual. And, yes, they look so much better than Lionel Messi! Maravilloso! Earlier released single SUMMER BREEZE will give you a perfect idea of how I felt yesterday and still feel today…
Okay, I guess we’re all ready now to party.
Here’s Friends & Lovers in full…
One more thing. For the older music junkies among us. Las Kellies also covered that tremendous track by British post punk legends DELTA 5. Remember this one?
Cleveland’s guitar noisemakers CLOUD NOTHINGS just shared the second single from forthcoming album Life Without Sound (scary thought if you ask me) – out 27th January.
All details here.INTERNAL WORLD roars big time. Basically a simple, yet unstoppable, catchy tune à la Weezer , drenched in a blustery bath of stupendous riffs with anthemic
effect on your ears. “No, I’m not the one who’s always right.” sings frontman Dylan Baldi in the chorus. No need for that as long as we can bang our heads and shake our shoulders
to crackers like this. Trust me, a couple of spins and you we will be hooked…
PETER DOHERTY shared another new track, titled KOLLY KIBBER, from his 2nd solo LP ‘Hamburg Demonstrations‘ – out December 2. All details here. Here’s the new folky song…
Artwork for front sleeve ‘Hamburg Demonstrations‘…
Tracklist:
Kolly Kibber
Down For The Outing
Birdcage
Hell To Pay At The Gates Of Heaven
Flags From The Old Regime
I Don’t Love Anyone (But You’re Not Just Anyone) V2
A Spy In The House Of Love
Oily Boker
I Don’t Love Anyone (But You’re Not Just Anyone)
The Whole World Is Our Playground
She is Far
JASON PIERCE was co-founder of British psychedelic cult band Spacemen 3 (1982-1991).
A highly talented collective of drugs influenced egos who shaped their own world of mind-twisting, far-out sonic jams. “They were one of the great rock experiences producing a full array of throbbings, pulsings, yowlings, reverbs, triple echoes and sheer whiplash volume” wrote NME contributor Danny Kelly once after one of their spectacular, yet chaotic shows. After Spacemen 3 exploded Pierce formed SPIRITUALIZED to continue his own search and exploration of lazer guided melodies with 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space as one of his most succesful achievements. He played this masterpiece in full just a few weeks ago in London – review of The Telegraph here. Last year, in Amsterdam, I saw the transcendent musician and his orchestra live (again) for a one-off performance. And, yes, he still conducts astonishing, spiritual symphonies that mess up your mind in a most pleasing way from his traditional right spot on the stage. Hopefully the rumours of a new 2017 album are true. Anyway today is his 51st birthday (born 19 November 1965). Let’s come together and celebrate…
