Guitar slinger Nichol Robertson and Teddy Hawkins rip through your country faves tonight at the 'Sheaf from 9 pm to 12:45 am. |
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Thelonious Hank rock the Wheatsheaf Tavern, Sunday
Happy Birthday Bill Berry!
Whaddya mean you don't know Bob Destiny
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Happy Birthday James Spaulding!
90s Nostalgia: Six Finger Satellite @ Lee's Palace, 1995
Friday, July 29, 2022
One For The Weekend: The Ideals
The Paranoyds share "Single Origin Experience" off new album Talk Talk Talk
"Single Origin Experience" is off The Paranoyds' Talk Talk Talk album out Sept. 9. They play The Monarch Tavern October 31. |
Los Angeles-based DIY rock band The Paranoyds announce their fall North American tour with a brand new single, "Single Origin Experience," out everywhere now, along with a lyric video (see below). Stay tuned for the band's highly anticipated sophomore LP, Talk Talk Talk – due September 9 via Third Man Records – available for pre-order right here: https://orcd.co/theparanoyds.
Before the official fall tour kicks off, The Paranoyds will support Jack White for three dates this September including Asheville, NC, New Orleans, LA and Shreveport, LA. The fall tour officially begins on October 13 in Santa Ana, CA and moves through the South, Midwest, plus a Halloween show with Zilched in Toronto at the Monarch Tavern on October 31, before concluding in their home city of Los Angeles on November 12. Find a full list of dates below, and grab tickets via linktr.ee/theparanoyds.
On "Single Origin Experience" The Paranoyds reckon with both America's shameful history and current shady antics by the government and top corporations. The track opens with fuzzy, layered vocals that sing, "Nihilism bobbleheads, misogynists but working on it / American means shaking hands and stealing land / Modern horror is unmotivated / Moving through the days unabated." "Single Origin Experience" exemplifies the band's effortless blend of eccentric societal commentary with sincerity over grainy guitar and a magnetic hook that remains in one's head long after the song is over.The track pokes fun at society's plunge into a hyper-surveilled, hyper-marketed, and profit-driven circus. Explaining the meaning behind the song, guitarist and vocalist Lexi Funston says, "Sometimes an event happens or a news report comes out or whatever and you're just so bummed about what it means to be American. It can be so exhaustingly cringey. Companies spying on us and "green-washing" their products in hopes of selling as a “pure” life, a branded experience. what the fuck right? Does single origin coffee really taste any better???"
Today's release follows the previously shared gritty, lo-fi punk track "Lizzie" and its retro, 80's-inspired video where the four-piece is seen rocking aluminum foil hats and dancing robotically, straight out of the Terminator. RIFF Magazine calls the track, "The futuristic punk you didn’t know you’d been waiting for," and GrimyGoods wrote, "Over skittering electric riffs and spacey punk...'Lizzie' is cosmically fuzzy as it [heralds] its groovy eclecticism."
Talk Talk Talk, the sci-fi-bent sophomore album from The Paranoyds, gives the band space to expand, evolve and above all, have fun. Over 11 tracks, the band experiments with sounds that span an eclectic array of genres–from jazz, to lo-fi punk-rock, to groovy R&B–that melt together showcasing the innovative range of the rising rockers.
The Paranoyds are Southern California DIY rock royalty, unafraid and unapologetically in perpetual pursuit of a good time. Fueled by the fiery energy of their live shows paired with raw lyricism and subtle societal commentary, The Paranoyds are ready to take their artistry to new heights. The close-knit four-piece is made up of Laila Hashemi (keyboardist-vocals), Lexi Funston (guitars/vocals), Staz Lindes (bass/vocals) and David Ruiz (drums, vocals) who together masterfully blend light-hearted playfulness with sharp sincerity over fuzzy guitar, dreamy vocals and punchy, punky rock-n-roll.
Check out The Paranoyds' videos for "Single Origin Experience" and "Lizzie" followed by a comprehensive list of upcoming tour dates.
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Ray Medina & The New Latin Breed vs. The Aquarians
Happy Birthday Jimmy "Duck" Holmes!
Listen to Britfolk legend Shirley Collins on The White Rabbit's 'Songbook' podcast
Hear the fab Shirley Collins chat with Songbook host Jude Rogers for 48 minutes by following the link below.
Here's the scoop...
British folk icon Shirley Collins welcomes Jude to her home in the Sussex countryside to talk about Alan Lomax's book The Land Where the Blues Began. A book that, as you'll discover, she feels very conflicted about.
From men taking all the credit to going to dinner at David Attenborough's house, witnessing the horrific racism of the Deep South in the 1950s to what luxuries she would take to a Desert Island, this is an epic journey of an episode.
Jude and Shirley go back a long way, and the warmth, humour and range of their chat provides an amazing insight into a true legend. For Shirley fans and newcomers alike. Listen right here.
Books mentioned in the podcast:
https://store.whiterabbitbooks.co.uk/collections/author-shirley-collins-pid-240068/products/america-over-the-water
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-land-where-blues-began/9781565847392
http://www.thecopperfamily.com/the-books.html
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/1605843623_english-folk-songs-from-the-southern-appalachians-vol-1/9781935243175
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-new-penguin-book-of-english-folk-songs/9780141194622
You can buy Jude's book The Sound of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives here: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-sound-of-being-human-how-music-shapes-our-lives/9781474622929
Finally White Rabbit's Spotify Playlist of 'booksongs' - songs inspired by books loved by our guests - is here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7chuHOeTs9jpyKpmgXV6uo
OFF! previews new ᖷЯƎƎ ⅃Ƨꓷ album with "War Above Los Angeles" video
"War Above Los Angeles" is taken from the forthcoming OFF! album ᖷЯƎƎ ⅃Ƨꓷ out Sept. 30 via Fat Possum. Pre-order it here. |
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Watch Bobbie Gentry on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1970
Nikki Lane announces Denim & Diamonds tour – album out Sept. 23!
Watch Nikki Lane's video for "Black Widow" off her Josh Homme-produced "Denim & Diamonds." Tour dates below. |
Here's the scoop...
From the first bass note within the driving drum beat you can tell something is different about the new record from Nikki Lane. The backbeat feels like a gutsy strut while the lead guitar feels like a revved up engine shifting gears. Denim & Diamonds comes out firing, spit shining the cowboy boots and tossing on a jean jacket.
Produced by Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Denim & Diamonds has the Highway Queen embracing a more rock-oriented sound while still maintaining the heartfelt outlaw country sound she has developed across her previous three releases. Denim & Diamonds still has the fuck-off flare of which Nikki has come to be known. Her stylized, story-telling lyrics are all there as well as her catchy country hooks. The outlaw country sound is now balanced out with a gritty guitar and a machine gun snare that echoes the sound of 70’s rock.
Nikki Lane has made a record that sounds new and old. Familiar and surprising. She embraces where she has come from, (“First High”, “Born Tough”) the lessons learned along the way, (“Good Enough”, “Try Harder”) all while doing things her way, (“Denim & Diamonds”, “Black Widow”).
Pre-order a copy of Nikki Lane's new Denim & Diamonds album right here. Check the videos for "First High" and "Black Widow" (directed by Austin Leih) along with her upcoming tour dates – she'll be rockin' The Horseshoe in Toronto on December 6th! – following the track listing below. For more info, check her site, https://www.nikkilane.com
Nikki Lane returns to Toronto to rock The Horseshoe on December 6. Get tickets right here hen they become available. |
Happy Birthday Carl Grubbs!
Whaddya mean you don't know Kooshin
Portland's Little Axe Records reissued the overlooked recordings by late Toronto-based Somali kaban ace Mohamed M. Kooshin. |
Here's the scoop...
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Happy Birthday Mick Jagger!
Listen to "A Truckload of Art" by Terry Allen
Monday, July 25, 2022
Joni Mitchell returns to the stage at Newport Folk Fest
For Bookie: Dave Bookman honoured with a plaque at The Horseshoe, Tuesday
Toronto musician, promoter and radio host Dave Bookman is being celebrated for years of tireless support of Canadian indie music. |
Writes Elliott Lefko...
My great friend Dave Bookman is being honoured by the City Of Toronto with a heritage plaque in recognition of his long service to rock music and all that is good. A bunch of his friends have organized a celebration of music and talk on Tues July 26 at 11 am outside the Horseshoe in Toronto. If you can’t make it then come down anytime after Aug 1 when it will be permanently installed. Long live the memory of Dave Bookman!
Watch the video for The Sadies' "No One's Listening" off Colder Streams
"No One's Listening" is off The Sadies' great new Colder Streams album which you can get right here. |
Steve Howe talks about Yes, Jethro Tull, Nice, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Robyn Hitchcock shares "The Shuffle Man" from new Shufflemania! album
Robyn Hitchcock's new album Shufflemania! is out October 21 via Tiny Ghost. Check "The Shuffle Man" clip below. |
Recorded in locations around the world over the pandemic era, SHUFFLEMANIA! offers up 10 gloriously ingenious new Robyn Hitchcock songs in just under 40 minutes - a “proper pop album” as nature intended. Songs like “Midnight Tram To Nowhere” and the optimistic, album-closing “One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)” are state-of-the-art Hitchcock, manifesting his signature wit, miraculous gift for melodic craftsmanship, and striking humanity in a world gone mad.
Check out the video for opening track "The Shuffle Man" after the track listing below. You can pre-order Shufflemania! via Bandcamp right here.
Listen to Robyn in Nashville on WFMU-FM right here: https://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/117822.
A note from Robyn
Hello dear listener,
I am thrilled to be unleashing my new record album SHUFFLEMANIA! on the world.
What is SHUFFLEMANIA!? It’s surfing fate, trusting your intuition, and bullfighting with destiny. It’s embracing the random and dancing with it, even when it needs to clean its teeth. It’s probably the most consistent album I’ve made. It’s a party record, with a few solemn moments, as parties are wont to supply. Groove on, groovers!
Love on ye,
RH x
Nashville, July 2022
Robyn Hitchcock – Shufflemania!
1. The Shuffle Man
2. The Inner Life of Scorpio
3. The Feathery Serpent God
4. Midnight Tram to Nowwhere
5. Socrates in Thin Air
6. Noirer Than Noir
7. The Man Who Loves the Rain
8. The Sir Tommy Shovel
9. The Raging Muse
10. One Day (It's Being Scheduled)
Happy Birthday Billy Taylor!
Watch Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood sing "Summer Wine" in 1967
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Happy Birthday Madeline Bell
Spirit of France comp collects rare gallic jazz, folk and psych gems from the 70s & 80s
Mark Gallagher & Thea Ioannou have compiled a heady double-LP selection of obscure but interesting jazz and bent folk curios. |
Here's the scoop...
‘Spirit of France’ is an anthology celebrating the French artists whose total desire not to belong to a particular trend expanded their horizon by pushing the boundaries of creative music. Recording in caves during the full moon, or in the open air in Ibiza to celebrate the sun - with flutes, cromorne (French woodwind reed), darbouka and hurdy-gurdy, or with fascinating, unusual, artist-build instruments, with sounds heavily influenced from Indian, African, Arabic, Eastern and Malagasy cultures, this is what makes this compilation so unique.
Freedom of expression, experimental creativity and collaboration constitute the fuel for these hand picked artists – similar to Don Cherry’s influence on Colin Walcott and Kahil El’Zabar (in the field of jazz), and folk background artists like Robbie Basho and Sandy Bull; in Europe, the same approach was manifested in Italy with bassist Marcello Melis, the Sardinian singers from the Gruppo Rubanu, Aktuala and Futuro Antico. In France, Cossi Anatz, Nu Creative Methods and Sonorhc were also echoing the same approach.
‘Spirit of France’ – a long project in the making, is dedicated in unearthing more than just curiosities, instead focusing on never been reissued, obscure, artist-self-released music. Carefully curated by Spiritmuse Records’ Mark Gallagher and Thea Ioannou, and joined by young French digger Tom Val, ‘Spirit of France’ is an anthology of obscure spiritual jazz and its’ relationship with deep folk in the ‘70s - ‘80s French multi-cultural melting pot underground scene.
The album’s aim is evident from the outset, with Rémy Couvez’s aptly named ‘Rêve de Voyage’, illustrating the theme’s quest for imaginary folklore, continued with Workshop de Lyon, Jef Gilson – France’s spiritual jazz giant, Sylvain Kassap, Noco Music, Pân-Râ, L’Empire des Sons, Ghédalia Tazartès, and the mysterious Adjenar Sidar Khan. Some of these artists remain unacknowledged, yet they’re all extraordinary heroes of the French music avant-garde scene.
‘Spirit of France’ is a journey of imaginary folklore, blending spiritual jazz influences and deep folk, celebrating the unique sounds of the French avant-garde underground, at the crossroads of the tribal, the secular and the universal. Get a copy here. Check out a few tracks below.
Spiritmuse Records presents Spirit of France
1. Rémy Couvez - Rêve de Voyage 4:13
2. L’Empire des Sons - Quand Nos Pères Étaient Des Poissons 2:19
3. Catherine Derain - Les Crocodiles 3:13
4. Sylvain Kassap - Le Dessous Des Berges 4:50
5. Noco Music - Gaal 6:25
6. Bujumbura Lyon - Workshop De Lyon - Bujumbura Lyon 5:59
7. Jef Gilson - Love Always 15:16
8. André Fertier & Clivage - Moving Waves 10:21
9. Dynamo - Arabia 4:50
10. Structures Sonores Lasry-Baschet - Sokoto 2:29
11. Pân-Râ - Loreley 7:28
12. Adjenar Sidhar Khan - Mahabaratha Kali 8:13
Whaddya mean you don't know Herbie Duncan
Friday, July 22, 2022
One For The Weekend: The Schizophonics
Check out "Hoof It," the rippin' title track off The Schizophonics forthcoming album out September 2nd. Pre-order it here. |
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Julian Lage shares performance of "Word For Word" from his View With A Room LP
Guitarist Julian Lage is joined by fellow string bender Bill Frisell on his new View With A Room album due in September. |
Here's the scoop from Blue Note HQ...
Guitarist Julian Lage returns with a stunning new album View With A Room, the follow-up to his acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut Squint, which the Associated Press called “an exuberant, engaging, endlessly inventive exploration of styles.” This time Lage expands his versatile trio with bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King into a quartet with the addition of fellow guitarist and Blue Note labelmate Bill Frisell. View With A Room presents 10 compelling new original compositions by Lage that explore a wide range of guitar sounds and textures with these two distinctive master guitarists seamlessly blending their unique 6-string styles.
Check out a performance of "Word For Word" by Julian Lage's trio following the View With A Room track listing below. You can pre-order a copy of the album – with an intriguing 80s ECM-style throwback sleeve design – directly from Blue Note right here.
Julian Lage – View With A Room
1. Tributary
2. Word for Word
3. Auditorium
4. Heart Is a Drum
5. Echo
6. Chavez
7. Temple Steps
8. Castle Park
9. Let Every Room Sing
10. Fairbanks
Happy Birthday Helen Merrill
Danko Jones is coming to a European open-air volkspark near you
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Hear Lou Reed's 1965 demo of "Heroin"
Lou Reed's original 1965 demo of "Heroin" is being released by Light In The Attic as part of Words & Music, May 1965 |
Here's the scoop...
“I’m Waiting for the Man,” “Heroin,” “Pale Blue Eyes” — In May of 1965, Lou Reed, with the help of future bandmate John Cale, recorded the very first known versions of these iconic songs along with a handful of others and mailed the tape to himself as a “poor man’s copyright.” The tape remained sealed in its original envelope and unopened for nearly 50 years — entirely unheard and forgotten, until now.
In partnership with Light In The Attic Records and @laurieandersonofficial, the tape will be released for the first time (remastered from the original analog tape) on Deluxe Edition LP, Standard LP, CD, Cassette Tape, and Digital on 8/26 and are available for pre-order right here.
The first single, “I’m Waiting For The Man is available to stream now. Throughout 2022 and beyond, Light in the Attic will continue to honor the music and influence of Reed through the Lou Reed Archive Series. Visit LouReedArchive.com to learn more, and stay tuned for forthcoming releases.
Words & Music, May 1965 will be available on August 26th in a variety of formats, including LP, cassette, 8-track, digital, and CD. The centerpiece of the inaugural Lou Reed Archive Series release is the Deluxe 45-RPM Double LP Edition of Words & Music, May 1965.
Limited to 7,500 copies worldwide, this collection was designed by multi-GRAMMY®-winning artist Masaki Koike and features a stylized, die-cut gatefold jacket manufactured by Stoughton Printing Co. Housed inside are two 45-RPM 12-inch LPs, pressed on HQ-audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI) featuring the only vinyl release of “I’m Waiting for the Man - May 1965 Alternate Version.” A bonus 7-inch, housed in its own unique die-cut picture sleeve and manufactured at Third Man Record Pressing includes the only vinyl release of six previously-unreleased bonus tracks providing a never-before-seen glimpse into Reed’s formative years, including early demos, a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” and a doo-wop serenade recorded in 1958 when the legendary singer-songwriter was just sixteen years old. An accompanying saddle-stitched, die-cut 28-page book features lyrics, archival photos, and liner notes. Also included is an archival reproduction of a rarely-seen letter, written by Reed to his college professor and poet, Delmore Schwartz, circa 1964. The set includes a CD containing the complete audio from the package, housed in a die-cut jacket.
The 11-track digital release of Words & Music, May 1965 will be available across all platforms, alongside the physical formats, on August 26th. A six-song digital EP, Gee Whiz, 1958-1964, drops on October 7th, offering the above-mentioned bonus content.
Happy 75th Birthday James "Plunky" Branch!
Cheers to Plunky on his 75th birthday. Here's a local Virginia television appearance along with a few vintage gems. |
LINKS
Richmond's Style Weekly The Poetics of Juju
The Pro-Teens vs. MF DOOM
Melbourne's Pro-Teens just knocked out a swell instro versions of "Doomsday" and the Madvillain gem "Curls" for a tribute 7". |
Here's the scoop...