Hooded Fang album release w/ HSY, Germaphobes @ The Horseshoe, Friday

Toronto's Hooded Fang will be playing songs from their new Venus On Edge album which you can check below.

C.W. Stoneking @ The Drake, Wednesday

Don't miss the Toronto debut of Australian blues boss C.W. Stoneking at The Drake with Catl opening at 9 pm sharp.

Frank Secich book launch @ Circus, Saturday, 4 pm

Blue Ash founder and Stiv Bators collaborator Frank Secich has loads of entertaining stories to tell.

Happy Birthday Dee Dee Bridgewater!

Celebrating Dee Dee's birthday with her lovely version of Midnight Sun at Jazzwoche Burghausen in 1998.

One For The Weekend: Peter Brötzmann

Don't miss Peter w/ Heather Leigh at the Velvet Underground Friday. I'll be spinning vinyl relics between sets.

Happy 100th Birthday Moondog!

Remembering the amazing Louis "Moondog" Hardin, born 100 years ago today in Marysville, Kansas.  

LINKS
The American Spectator: Moondog at 100
NY Daily News: A look back at Moondog
The Viking Of 6th Avenue – Kickstarter campaign

TURF 2016 topped by Drive-By Truckers, Guided By Voices & The Mekons

Whaddya mean you don't know Ural Thomas

Portland soul great Ural Thomas revised his '67 gem "Pain Is The Name of Your Game" with Nick Waterhouse. 

Velvet Crush's Teenage Symphonies demos due from Omnivore July 22

The Velvet Crush's co-founder Ric Menck just posted on Facebook about Omnivore's plans to re-release the demos they cut for the group's classic 1994 album, Teenage Symphonies To God which have previously appeared on the Melody Freaks collection in 2002. Interestingly enough, Ric didn't mention anything about a vinyl issue and neither does Omnivore's press release which follows:

"Yes, it's true. There's a new Velvet Crush release coming soon! It's called Pre-Teen Symphonies, and it will be available through the fine folks at Omnivore Records!! It collects the demos we recorded for Teenage Symphonies To God, as well as a live show recorded in Chicago by the WXRT mobile unit.

"This stuff has been out before, but never in one place, and it has never sounded this good (totally remastered from original tapes!). I wrote the liner notes, and the cover of the CD features some really cool never before seen photos. It's been ages since there's been any new "product" by VC on the market, so I'm kinda excited about this! I'm really glad it's coming out on Omnivore, too, because they've been putting out some fantastic records for quite a few years now!"

Here's the Omnivore press release...

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. — When Rhode Island’s Velvet Crush appeared on the scene in the early 1990s, they were obviously a force to reckon with. Signing with England’s Creation Records (Oasis, My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub), they released their debut LP in 1991. But, it was 1994’s Teenage Symphonies To God (the title being a play on Brian Wilson’s description of what would become SMiLE) on Sony 550 Music that put them on the map. Co-produced by the legendary Mitch Easter, it opened America’s eyes to what those over the pond were so wild about.

But, what was the genesis of that record? We can now find out with Pre-Teen Symphonies, a collection of 16 previously unissued tracks from Velvet Crush: eight demos (including one for the classic single “Hold Me Up”) and eight tracks recorded live in 1995 at Cabaret Metro in Chicago. The set, available on CD and Digital, will be released July 22, 2016.

As the band—fronted by Paul Chastian (bass, guitar and vocals) and Ric Menck (drums) with Jeffrey Underhill (guitar)—proved the past was the future by taking elements from classic ’60s melodies, ’70s power pop, and ’80s reinvention, Pre-Teen Symphonies is a unique look into the development of a classic, and the live power that drove it.

Menck writes in the liners: “It’s probably no exaggeration to make the claim that Teenage Symphonies To God was the pinnacle of our illustrious career as a band. It’s certainly the album by Velvet Crush that most people know. Pre-Teen Symphonies collects all the loose ends, and hopefully, helps to usher in a new chapter for the little band that could from Providence, Rhode Island.”


  
Pre-Teen Symphonies CD/Digital Track List:
1. Hold Me Up
2. My Blank Pages
3. Time Wraps Around You
4. Not Standing Down
5. Turn Down
6. This Life Is Killing Me
7. Weird Summer
8. Star Trip
Live At Cabaret Metro, Chicago:
9. Window to the World
10. My Blank Pages
11. Ash and Earth
12. Time Wraps Around You

Happy 70th Birthday Famoudou Don Moye

Celebrating the birthday of the Art Ensemble's percussionist extraordinaire with their version of Fela Kuti's Zombie.

RIP Morley Safer, 1931-2016

Toronto-born broadcast news icon Morley Safer died on May 19, days after his retirement from 60 Minutes.

The Fleshtones @ Montreal's Parterre du Quartiers des Spectacles, Sunday

Count on The Fleshtones to knock out the tunes their righteously rockin' new 45 at Pouzza Fest tonight.

Spilluffe vs. Motörhead

Ulf Sigvardson aka Spilluffe did Lemmy's Killed By Death synth-punk style for the Orgelvärk cassette comp in 1986. 

Neuköln's excellent Orgelvärk comp was reissued by Minimal Wave.

Four Tet w/ Ben UFO @ Coda, Saturday

Check out Kieran Hebden's Boiler Room set below or listen to his recent dublab session w/Ben UFO right here.

RIP Gétachèw Mèkurya, 1935-2016

Ethiopian saxophone colossus Gétachèw Mèkurya passed away on April 4 in Addis Ababa. He was 81.

Happy Birthday Cecil McBee

Here's the deep spiritual jam Agnez recorded live at Sweet Basil on August 2, 1977.

Peach Kelli Pop @ Smiling Buddha, Thursday

Check out Peach Kelli Pop's new tunes off their Halloween Mask 7-inch EP out now on Lauren Records. 

Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop @ Danforth Music Hall, Wednesday

Watch Jesca Hoop and Iron & Wine's Sam Beam croon two wistful tunes from their duets album Love Letter For Fire. 

Happy Birthday Terry Zwigoff

Watch Terry's fab first feature, 1985's Louie Bluie, a documentary about string band great Howard Armstrong.

RIP Marlene Marder, 1954-2016

Zürich's Marlene Marder co-founded hugely influential Swiss punk exports Kleenex. 

Watch Margo Price @ Stubbs in Austin

Here's rising roots country star Margo Price playing an eight-song set at SXSW back in March.  

RIP Guy Clark, 1941-2016

Legendary Texas songwriter Guy Clark will be greatly missed. Here are a few memorable performances.

Royce da 5'9" @ The Mod Club, Tuesday

Watch Royce da 5'9" discuss the origins of his introspective new Layers album on the Breakfast Club. 

TSO plays the music of John Williams @ Roy Thomson Hall, Tuesday & Wednesday

Here are a couple of numbers from Star Wars composer John Williams you won't likely hear the TSO revisit. 

Lee "Scratch" Perry's Vision of Paradise screens @ Royal Cinema, Sunday, 7:30pm

Volker Schaner's 2015 documentary may have a special guest for the Toronto screening Sunday at 7:30pm.  

No Flash, Please! book launch w/The Lawn, The Dundrells, Adam Faux @ The Horseshoe, Sunday

Check out some fantastic 80s vintage photos of The Lawn shot by Rick McGinnis right here.

Watch The Louvin Brothers sing Hoping That You're Hoping

Here's Ira & Charlie Louvin on the Purina Grand Ole Opry Carnival in 1956. 

Happy Birthday Ian McLagan

Remembering Small Faces and Faces keyboardist on his day with his performance of Ronnie Lane's Debris. 

Toronto's Pow Wows rock Spain

Check these clips of the Pow Wows tearin' it up in Alicante and Madrid last month.

Drake & 40 interviewed by Nardwuar

Watch Nardwuar zealously dig into the hidden past of Drake and his producer 40 along with their first collabo.

B-Side Wins Again: Atomic Rooster

The Rock is another ace head-nodder from UK prog rippers Atomic Rooster. 

Happy Birthday Hank Snow

Remembering the Singing Ranger on his day with a couple of vintage TV appearances.

The Waco Brothers @ The Horseshoe, May 13

Jon Langford and his Waco crew will be presenting songs from Going Down In History at the Horseshoe on Friday.

Ray Charles vs. The Southern Tones

Notice any similarity between Ray's I've Got A Woman and the Southern Tones' earlier It Must Be Jesus?

Black Lips with Death Valley Girls, Red Mass, Lint @ The Phoenix, Friday

Watch Cole and Jared discuss the origins of the Black Lips and play a few tunes acoustically in Nelsonville.

One For The Weekend: The Sterlings

Here's "Hey Boy" by The Sterlings which appears on the greasy-great new Los Alamos Grind comp (see below). 

Los Alamos Grind

Record buyers of a certain age need no explanation for Los Alamos Grind! They will be immediately transported back to a time when going to see The Dwarves was de rigueur for fresh-faced American youth, books like Apocalypse Culture were on everyone’s nightstand, and issues of Rollerderby were available everywhere, selling millions of copies. A natural reaction to this onslaught of hypersexual, transgressive, post-Throbbing Gristle art was a wave of interest in a kinder, gentler era of sleaze. For those space-age bachelors who occasionally invited others into their space-age bachelor- pads, the Las Vegas Grind series appeared to, ostensibly, compile the sounds and smells of vintage strip clubs, with all the pastie-twirling, sweaty-hip-gyrating, lap-grinding one could hope for, as if compiled by Lloyd Llewellyn himself. Like every bootleg series, however, the Las Vegas Grind series slid quickly into the untold darkness, much like a rotted-stripper panty swept off the stage at The Can Can.

Los Alamos Grind! picks up in the not-too-distant future where nuclear war has indelibly altered the physical structure of strippers and patrons alike, but the jukebox selections have returned to a simpler time. Join the time-traveling A&R men of Numbero as they simultaneously visit past and future, compiling a superior collection of sleaze than anything brought to the post-apocalyptic-bachelor-pad scene thus far. And because we are gentlemen and scholars, each track is licensed… no easy feat when the government has crumbled and all laws are dictated by treaties between mutant warlords (and warladies).

Includes an original comic penned by Doofus creator Rick Altergott. 1000 copies pressed on silver plastic compact disc. 1000 copies pressed on alien urine blue vinyl, 1000 copies pressed on galaxy black vinyl which come with a digital download code for MP3 files. Order directly from Numero Group right here. Check the impressive track listing below.


Los Alamos Grind (Numbero)

Johnny Knight - Rock & Roll Guitar
Classie Ballou - Classie's Whip
Eugene Blacknell - Jump Back
The Blazers - The Grasshopper Twist
A.C. Jones & the Atomic Aces - Give Me Your Love (Inst.)
The Kings - Just a Little Bit of You
The Dontels - Soul Nitty Gritty
J.J. Jones - Aw Shucks
The Sterlings - Hey Boy
L. Hollis & the Mackadoos - Bui Bui
Dino & the Deltones - Slap Stick
The Royal Jesters - Staletto 135
Cal Valentine - The Boogie Twist Pt.1
Lou Ragland & the Bandmasters - Party at Lester's
The Joy Rockers - The Gauster Bop
The Fabulous Rhythm Makers - Mini, Mini Afro Twist
The Soul-heirs - Hot Links
Johnny K. Killens & The Dynamites - Frenchy the Tickler

Happy Birthday Delia Derbyshire!

Remembering the electronic music pioneer with a documentary & the White Noise album An Electric Storm.

Bob Mould Band @ The Horseshoe, Tuesday & Wednesday

Bob Mould presents Patch The Sky along with some other pleasant tunes in a two-night Horseshoe stand.

"Here’s the deal. In 2012, people loved Silver Age (to a degree that surprised me, pleasantly), likewise Beauty & Ruin in 2014 (despite the heaviness of the subject matter, which I thought might be a bit alienating… apparently not. Another pleasant surprise).

"But Patch The Sky is the darkest one.

"After the Letterman performance in February 2015 where “dust fell from the rafters,” it would have seemed logical to go the punk rock route—an entire album of two-minute songs—but that wasn’t where my soul was at.

"I withdrew from everyday life. I wrote alone for six months. I love people, but I needed my solitude. The search for my own truth kept me alive. These songs are my salvation.

"I’ve had a solid stretch of hard emotional times, and thanks for the condolences in advance. I don’t want to go into the details—more death, relationships ending, life getting shorter—because they’re already in the songs. Just listen and see if you can fit yourself into my stories. The words make you remember. The music makes you forget.

"But Patch The Sky is also the catchiest one.

"I always aim for the perfect balance of bright melodies and dark stories. I’ve used this juxtaposition for years. This time, I’ve tuned it to high contrast.

"The first side of the album is generally simple and catchy. The second side is heavier in spirit and tone. Opposing forces and properties. I love both sides of Patch The Sky.

"At the core of these songs is what I call the chemical chorus—you hear it once and your brain starts tingling. The heart rate picks up. It gets worse—you know it’s coming again and you can barely stand the anticipation. Then, the beautifully heartbreaking bridge appears, and you’re all set up—hooked for life. Music is an incredibly powerful drug. I want to be your drug dealer. I have what you need."

— Bob Mould

Happy Birthday Conny Plank

Remembering Conny with a discussion of his work and part of his Duke Ellington collaboration from 1970.

Buena Vista's Eliades Ochoa joins sister Maria Ochoa for Guajira + Mas Guajira

For the latest album from Buena Vista Social Club keyman Eliades Ochoa, the Santiago de Cuba-born master of the tres and cuatro has teamed up with his sister and long-time collaborator Maria Ochoa for Guajira + Mas Guajira (Tumi Music) – an exploration of their shared musical heritage with the support of Cuban band Alma Latina. A two-year labor of love, the album chronicles Ochoa’s lifelong fascination with guajira music, Cuba's answer to country.

Far from an academic exercise or some misguided nostalgia trip, the former Cuarteto Patria mainman puts his own spin on guajira, borrowing freely from Afro-Latin styles to enrich his repertoire, with the ease of a seasoned veteran who understands the tradition from the ground up. Elegant guitar and string work combine with the Ochoas’ gritty, endearing vocals, with bluesy blasts of electric guitar, Caribbean hints, and the pulse of Latin percussion.

“Together with Buena Vista Social Club, this album is one the most important and interesting recordings of my life,” says Eliades Ochoa. “Alma Latina is an inspiration and an expression of art, music, painting and dance. It is a call to bring harmony and love through music to all human beings and Latin brothers. And it’s about the dance,” an element that runs through every charming track on the album.


Maria Ochoa remembers sitting with her brother as a young girl. He would play some tunes on his battered guitar, and she would swing in the hammock and sing. They both grew up surrounded by song and tres playing, thanks to their musical family, farmers in a small town in Cuba’s mountainous, rural east. They grew up steeped in Cuba’s country sounds and both grew into riveting performers.

From those halcyon early days, Eliades began to rethink tradition and, with time, to make a name for himself. He added strings to the tres, developing his own playing style. In the 60s, Ochoa got a standing gig playing for the Santiago de Cuba radio station, with its rural audience. He started his own groups and won a coveted spot at the Casa de Trova. Eventually, the venerable Cuban musical institution, Cuarteto Patria, asked Ochoa to join.

Ochoa has never bothered to do what was expected of him, however. Instead of simply agreeing, he insisted he should lead the ensemble. And though he specialized in the rustic, bittersweet sounds of the countryside, Ochoa began to weave more cosmopolitan sounds into the group’s work, adding a touch of tango and bursts of brass, as well as encouraging his new band to incorporate trova and son into their performances.

The dialogue with his sister, one of his first musical collaborators, has a winning naturalness, a warmth that invites the listener in. Maria is a formidable Latin music force in her own right. She often played with her brother during his early Santiago days, but really came into her own in the late 80s, playing with Rubén González, Gloria America, Mario Patterson, Sonera Edition, Tierra Caliente Caribe Typical, Los Kinis and The Achala Group. She began touring the world with other Cuban heavyweights, including Buena Vista alums Omara Portuondo, Ibrahim Ferrer, and her brother Eliades, when not cutting her own albums. Last year, she joined Alma Latina, directed by rising star Julio Montoro.

Together, the sibling team and Alma Latina touch on the melancholic yearning of rustic Cuban sounds, then hit hard with upbeat irresistible Latin dance numbers. It’s a celebratory collection of performances lovers of Buena Vista will instantly fall for. Many music fans outside the Latin world may not know they love guajira, the style that animates the album, but chances are they already do. From “Guantanamera” to the Wailers’ unexpected ska take on the style, the music has infiltrated global pop.

“Cuban music has a certain feel, that sway, that harmony,” reflects Eliades. “It can get right to the heart and the soul, no matter who you are.”

Happy Birthday Link Wray!

Remembering the great Link Wray with his "lost" Cadence recordings from 1958.

Whaddya mean you don't know Krakatau

Watch Dylan Lieberman, James Tom and Charles Sexton play the epic "Riddells Creek" off Water Near A Bridge.