Thursday, December 30, 2021

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of and The Return Of The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

 



I've had these comps on my wish list for a while now and my wonderful wife was good enough to get both of them for me for Xmas. Compiled by Yazoo Records, they epitomize some of the rarest performances put on vinyl that collectors fought over, sold and traded for the past five decades or so.

Funnily enough, the enclosed booklets (a brief one in the first volume and a much more expansive one in the sequel) are devoted to the collectors, not to the music, which gives them a unique perspective and shows the hard work that went into the preservation of this music - often walking door-to-door in run down neighborhoods simply asking if the homeowners had any old records that they were willing to part with. This, of course, is fodder for a number of entertaining anecdotes!

Each volume has 46 cuts over 2-CDs of rare and classic blues, country, hillbilly, folk, and ethnic tunes, some of which were unissued, "including 2 never heard before selections by Son House"! Of course, if you are already interested in this type of music - basically Americana from the 20's and the 30's - then you probably have some of these numbers on other compilations, but there is so much here that you will not regret getting these, as well.

Super recommended!

recommended gigs

Friday 12-31-21 - Agent Orange at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 1-2-22 - Goldtop Bob at the Double Down

Wednesday 1-5-22 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Thursday 1-6-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf

Friday 1-7-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Tuesday 1-11-22 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Usual Place

Thursday 1-13-21 - Supersuckers, Rhyolite Sound at the Dive Bar 

Thursday 1-13-21 - TV Party Tonight at the Double Down with a showing of Clerks and live music from Battering Ham

Saturday 1-15-22 - Deadbolt at the Dive Bar

Monday 1-17-22 - Jaime from Pine Hill Haints with Serious Sam Barrett and the Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Double Down

Saturday 1-29-22 - Shanda and the Howlers record release party with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Sand Dollar

Friday 2-4-22 - The Psyatics with Thee Swank Bastards and the Silhouettes at the Double Down

Saturday 2-5-22 - Cash'd Out and Paige Overton at Soul Belly

Saturday 2-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 3-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 4-16-22 -The Unwieldies and Jeff Mix and the Songhearts at the Gold Mine Tavern

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Don't Look Up (movie)

 


We just stumbled upon this flick on Netflix and thought it looked interesting and it turned out to be quite the sardonic commentary on the modern day phenomenon of reality-and-science deniers, along with a dose of political critiques of everything from Trumpian moronicism and nepotism to liberal milquetoasts who are so wimpy they literally let the world explode because they can't fight back hard enough.

Funny and depressing simultaneously as we are living through extinction crises that are receiving the exact same reaction from the "conservatives" who literally will let the world die before they give up any money.

The fact that this isn't even a parody, it's simply a commentary, is depressing as well, but it's a good watch.

Thursday, December 23, 2021

recommended gigs

 Friday 12-24-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at Starboard Tack

Saturday 12-25-21 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-27-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 12-31-21 - Agent Orange at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 1-5-22 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast at the Double Down

Friday 1-7-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Tuesday 1-11-22 - Shanda and the Howlers, Shannon and the Clams and Paranoyds at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Thursday 1-13-21 - Supersuckers, Rhyolite Sound at the Dive Bar 

Saturday 1-15-22 - Deadbolt at the Dive Bar

Monday 1-17-22 - Jaime from Pine Hill Haints with Serious Sam Barrett and the Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Double Down

Saturday 1-29-22 - Shanda and the Howlers record release party with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Sand Dollar

Friday 2-4-22 - The Psyatics with Thee Swank Bastards and the Silhouettes at the Double Down

Saturday 2-5-22 - Cash'd Out and Paige Overton at Soul Belly

Saturday 2-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 3-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 4-16-22 -The Unwieldies and Jeff Mix and the Songhearts at the Gold Mine Tavern

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Ugly Things #58 - Winter 2021

 


Of course, I say this with every issue but if you are a rock'n'roll fan (not just a garage rock enthusiast), you should already have a subscription to Ugly Things. Mike Stax, along with wife Anya and a motley crew of writers, explores all things music-related, from (at least) the 50's to the modern day, even if the concentration has been on 60's rock'n'roll. Having spent decades primarily exploring 60's garage rock, and this is still featured throughout, there is now also a concentration on later psychedelic sounds, along with even-later glam, punk and other coolness.

This ish features an insane story of the psych-mongers Clear Light - huge, but with wild anecdotes and incredible name-dropping (they jammed with Hendrix, fer crissakes!) - as well as more garage-oriented combos such as The Plague and the Roulettes, part two of my pal Kenne Highland's story (with tales and photos that even I had never seen), many other musical expeditions, and, of course, innumerable book'n'record reviews that will send you scramblin' to update your wish list!

The work that goes into a veritable tome like this is incredible and you better damn well appreciate it! Pick it up and expand your mind!

Monday, December 20, 2021

The Psyatics, the Bitters and Stagnetti's Cock at the Double Down, Friday Dec 17, 2021



For the last Psyatics show of the year, a truly eclectic gig was set up, with the manic, progressive instrumental weirdness from the Bitters' first show in almost two years, to the absolute chaos of Stagnetti's Cock!

The Bitters opened the night with the biggest crowd of the evening coming out to see their first gig since the pandemic started! I don't know if they would agree with this assessment, but for me, they sounded like an instrumental version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra or later, jazzy Jeff Beck, although they are not hesitant to throw in some Black Sabbath (shades of Jeff Murphy's other band, Thee Swank Bastards!) while blazingly riffing. Everyone gets to solo and everyone is an incredible player, and while most of the set is super fast, they do some bluesy stylings, as well, and playing with speeds and dynamics. The crowd loved them and I'm sure they'll be back out'n'about more now that they've got this first return gig outta the way.






As usual, I've got no pix of the Psyatics, natch, but even though a number of people left before we started, we still put on an enthusiastic and noisy (and, for me, anyway, a bit sloppy) set for our last entry for 2021! We'll be back in February of 2022 with some more new tunes - let's see if we've learned them by then!

Closing out the night was the pure anarchy of Stagnetti's Cock, who tries hard to be the goofiest and sloppiest band in Las Vegas, which is saying something! As much comedic performance "art" as a musical group, they spin monologues, tell jokes, take off their pants (as least Banana Bob did, although his ubiquitous banana costume kept things from getting obscene), break strings - Joe broke a string on the first song, went and got another guitar and broke a string on that one on the second song! - and hands their instruments to anyone in the audience, whether they are willing participants or not! Fun and ridiculous and wacky beyond words!




Once again, thank you to the Double Down for another night of musical madness! See y'all in the new year!

Thursday, December 16, 2021

recommended gigs

 Friday 12-17-21 - The Psyatics with the Bitters and Stagnetti's Cock at the Double Down

Saturday 12-18-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at Soul Belly and late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-20-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 12-24-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at Starboard Tack

Saturday 12-25-21 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-27-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 1-7-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Tuesday 1-11-22 - Shanda and the Howlers, Shannon and the Clams and Paranoyds at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Saturday 1-15-22 - Deadbolt at the Dive Bar

Monday 1-17-22 - Jaime from Pine Hill Haints with Serious Sam Barrett and the Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Double Down

Saturday 1-29-22 - Shanda and the Howlers record release party with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Sand Dollar

Friday 2-4-22 - The Psyatics with Thee Swank Bastards and the Silhouettes at the Double Down

Saturday 2-5-22 - Cash'd Out and Paige Overton at Soul Belly

Saturday 2-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 3-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 4-16-22 -The Unwieldies and Jeff Mix and the Songhearts at the Gold Mine Tavern

Friday, December 10, 2021

RIP Mike Nesmith


Michael Nesmith, Monkees Singer-Songwriter, Dead at 78 
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Everyone has heard about this by now, but he was my fave Monkee. What a great songwriter!

Thursday, December 09, 2021

recommended gigs

 Saturday 12-11-21 - Cromm Fallon and the P200 record release show at Berlin with the Lost Mynds and Margarita Boys from LA

Sunday 12-12-21 - Big Like Texas at the Dive Bar

Wednesday 12-15-21 - Death Valley Girls at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Friday 12-17-21 - The Psyatics with the Bitters and Stagnetti's Cock at the Double Down

Saturday 12-18-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at Soul Belly and late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-20-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 12-24-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at Starboard Tack

Saturday 12-25-21 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 12-27-21 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 1-7-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Tuesday 1-11-22 - Shanda and the Howlers, Shannon and the Clams and Paranoyds at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Saturday 1-15-22 - Deadbolt at the Dive Bar

Monday 1-17-22 - Jaime from Pine Hill Haints with Serious Sam Barrett and the Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Double Down

Saturday 1-29-22 - Shanda and the Howlers record release party with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Sand Dollar

Friday 2-4-22 - The Psyatics with Thee Swank Bastards and the Silhouettes at the Double Down

Saturday 2-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 3-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 4-16-22 -The Unwieldies and Jeff Mix and the Songhearts at the Gold Mine Tavern

Monday, December 06, 2021

Classic Blues Artwork from the 1920's - 2022 Calendar with Free CD

 


Anyone who has been paying attention to this blog knows that I have been collected these calendars for a number of years now due to their amazing graphics, informative text, birth and death dates of classic blues performers and the always fantastic CD that is included!

There is always rare and often previously unavailable material on each CD and the music is always cleaned up as much as technology allows, with less surface noise that many other releases. Here we get nine live Lead Belly songs from two different radio broadcasts (1945 and 1949) along with 15 other tracks from such greats as Henry Thomas, Furry Lewis, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, Blind Blake, Memphis Minnie, Jim Jackson, Bessie Smith, The Famous Blue Jay Singers of Birmingham, Washboard Walter, Black Byrd and Victoria Spivey! Whew!

This is all early, acoustic blues, mostly from the 20's and early 30's (with the exception of the previously mentioned Lead Belly numbers) and the performances and musicianship are always terrific and often spell binding. If you are a fan of such sounds, you may have some of these numbers, but the collection is fab and these packages are highly recommended!

Sunday, December 05, 2021

Defying Gravity - Jordan's Story

 


Jordan was, of course, one of the Faces of the London punk scene - an installation at McClaren and Westwood's shops, and a part of the Sex Pistols clique (kinda goes hand'n'hand, doesn't it?). While not a musical performer herself, she was a performance artist simply by being herself at a time when it was actually dangerous to do so.

I tend to dread reading the inevitable family history in any biography - the parts before the person's life became interesting - but Jordan's family was quite a tale in itself and far from boring! She came along in the mid-50's and as a child she was a ballerina, infatuated with classical music - an unexpected twist, although I would say that most everyone in the punk scene started off very differently than they ended up! That said, as a teen, Jordan was a Star Trek fanatic, which is not out of place with her later proclivities. 

Her style developed with the help of David Bowie and Roxy Music - as did so many punk rockers - and she starts working with Malcom McLaren and Vivien Westwood at their King's Road shop shortly after it became SEX. Of course, there are an infinite number of stories about the characters revolving around that shop - from actual fetish folks to the kids who would eventually become the punk rockers. And, of course, she was around when the Sex Pistols were formed by McLaren as an accoutrement to the shop. 

Jordan does also recount plenty of historical information and context about the areas and people and she is quick to credit other folks' research, as well. She gives a pretty complete history of the Pistols as well as those around them. Naturally, she tells the story of the making of the movie Jubilee, that she stars in (as well as some of her other film work), and recounts the violence of the Teds beating up the punks (and terrorizing the store, Seditionaries), as well as the rise of Adam and the Ants, who she managed briefly (due to Adam's crush on her) and remained part of the contingent until she slept with the bassist! A great story about the store is one in which Thunderclap Newman (yes, that Thunderclap) helped design the lighting in the store and scared everyone at the opening to death when a circuit blew with a loud explosion! Vivienne and Malcolm moved into pirate-themed wear after the success of Adam and Bow Wow Wow and there's a funny comment about punk being "black and white" until then! As if the Jam didn't sing "wear any clothes just as long as they're bright" and Poly sang about turning the world day-glo!

She tries to help her boyfriend's oddly named band, but that didn't click with the people and drugs caused them to go through an insane amount of money. Once she left him she started into a more "normal" life and while she moves back'n'forth from interacting with her old friends and working as a vet's assistant and helping on her sister's farm, her life becomes less captivating. 

I wasn't sure how she was going to fill this fairly massive tome, but she does a great job, overall, and while her use of British slang can be a bit over-powering for a Yank like me, it's a terrific read. Certainly recommended for fans of the time!


Saturday, December 04, 2021

Xmas Toy Drive with the Psyatics, Crimson Riot, Twilight Atomiks and the Soldiers of Destruction at the Double Down, Fri, Dec 3, 2021





Although I'm an old curmudgeon, I'm also a sucker for a worthy cause, especially during the holidays, and Atomic Mayhem (featuring Haanson Myer) put together this toy drive and was good enough to invite the Psyatics to play to help things out, as much as we could.


The night started out quite early - well before I made it to the club, in fact - with the relatively new combo (made up of Vegas stalwarts), the Twilight Atomiks, a punky/rockabilly combo that brought in a packed house at the ungawdly hour (for the DD) of 10:00 and and gave them a rockin' good time. I just caught the end of their set as I was loading in and trying to find a place to park in the Friday night insanity that is this neighborhood. But, a great opening and I must say, they probably had the biggest crowd of the evening.


Super tight, harmony driven, energetic, three-piece punk pop from Crimson Riot were up next with great vocals and stinging guitar from another Vegas regular, Roxy Gun, and a rockin' rhythm section. Fun tunes and a bouncin' performance made their set another winner!


Can't say much about our own set, other than we did our best for the kids, man! A mix of old'n'new songs (in fact, one song so new that Rob forgot it so we nixed it from the set!) and the usual Psyatics chaos (I even managed to interfere with Cactus trying to bounce someone out of the club!). Thanks to everyone who hung out for us and gave us plenty of energy to feed off of. 


The lovely Nicole Muse then gave one of her unique performances in between bands to the delight of everyone in the house. She never fails to entertain - see her the next time Franks'n'Deans performs!


Closing the night was Vegas' own metalically Oi/Hardcore combo, the Soldiers of Destruction, featuring the DD's own bouncer/all-around-good-guy, Dave Thompson on bass. Another strong, tight performance that got the remaining crowd off their feet and ravin'!

Great job by everyone involved in putting this on and I'm sure that it was a wild success judging by the overflowing table of toys and the cash contributed!

(Twilight Atomiks and Psyatics photos by none of then the woman-about-town, Nurse Nikki!)

Thursday, December 02, 2021

RIP Richard Cole



Former Led Zeppelin road manager Richard Cole has died 
---
He was a legend himself, as well as an author of a tell-all about Led Zep. Sad to hear that he passed far too young.

recommended gigs

 Friday 12-3-21 - The Psyatics with Crimson Riot, Soldiers of Destruction and Twilight Atomiks for the Atomic Mayhem Toy Drive at the Double Down

Friday 12-3-21 - Dirty R'n'R Dance Party presents Cheap Tissue, Cromm Fallon P200 and Rhythm Ace and the Nu-Tones at the Usual Place

Friday 12-3-21 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 12-5-21 - Nekromantix and the Delta Bombers at the Fremont Country Club

Saturday 12-11-21 - Cromm Fallon and the P200 record release show at Berlin with the Lost Mynds and Margarita Boys from LA

Sunday 12-12-21 - Big Like Texas at the Dive Bar

Friday 12-17-21 - The Psyatics with the Bitters and Stagnetti's Cock at the Double Down

Friday 1-7-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 1-15-22 - Deadbolt at the Dive Bar

Monday 1-17-22 - Jaime from Pine Hill Haints with Serious Sam Barrett and the Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Double Down

Saturday 1-29-22 - Shanda and the Howlers record release party with Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Sand Dollar

Friday 2-4-22 - The Psyatics with Thee Swank Bastards and the Silhouettes at the Double Down

Saturday 2-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Frankie Lee and the Infernos at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 3-12-22 - The Unwieldies and Big Like Texas at the Gold Mine Tavern

Saturday 4-16-22 -The Unwieldies and Jeff Mix and the SOnghearts at the Gold Mine Tavern