Seattle power pop crew Once For Kicks feat. Kurt Bloch share new EP

The new four-song Once For Kicks digital release "The Decade Is Dying In The Air" is out now. Here are two songs not on it. 

You can get a copy of the new Once For Kicks EP along with their many other releases right here. 

Happy Birthday Kurt Bloch!

Raising a glass to Seattle legend Kurt Bloch (YFF, Fastbacks, etc) with a few interviews and clips you may have missed.

LINKS
Kurt Bloch Farewell Excitement LP

Young Fresh Fellows release live-in-the-studio album "Loft" on the down low

Young Fresh Fellows recorded a their new Loft album in a single day in Chicago last year which they're selling at shows. 

Here's the scoop from Kurt Bloch...

If any of y’all want a copy of this new Young Fresh Fellows LP, it’s all new songs, this version is a “live” from the studio LP without overdubs and anything extra; all recorded in one day in Chicago last year. It will be “officially” released later with a more traditional approach, and this version will NOT be traditionally released, LP-only, no digital version. ANYHOO, I’ve put some on Discogs for those savvy virtual crate-diggers, check it out here. Overseas shipping is nearly US$30. for ONE LP so might have to figure out another avenue. 

Young Fresh Fellows – Loft

Noon - 4 p.m.

A1 Harpoon In The Hay

A2 Destination

A3 Death Becomes Us

A4 Three Gasconading Saints

A5 Before The Deluge

4 - 8 p.m.

B1 I'm A Prison

B2 1987

B3 The Exit Music

B4 Killing Time In Union Square

B5 Whispering Hole

B6 Books Don't Burn Twice

Kurt & Al Bloch sneak out rockin' new Bad Scene EP

Richard Stuverud joins Al and Kurt Bloch on the 4-song Bad Scene 7" EP... check out "Back To The Van" & "Black Coffee Man"

The Fastbacks way overdue new album "For What Reason" is out today!

Celebrate Kurt Bloch's birthday today with a copy of The Fastbacks much anticipated new album For What Reason – get it here.

The Fastbacks preview new album for No Threes with "Come On"

Kurt Bloch (plaid) and his Fastbacks crew are releasing a new album on August 28. Check out the video for "Come On" below. 

LINKS 

WeNeverLearn Kurt Bloch: An Awesome Guy Who Awesome People Like

Fleshtones' Peter Zaremba gets off the couch for new French language single

Peter Zaremba's new recordings of "Dégage de ce divan" and "Le Cerveau" come with a sweet Vogue-style 60s throwback sleeve.

Here's the scoop...

Peter Zaremba's brand new single "Dégage de ce divan" ("Get Off This Couch") b/w "Le Cerveau" ("The Brain") will be released next month (19/04/2024)... Stay tuned for the fantastic release of the Psychedelic Count's new 7'' in a numbered limited edition of 500 copies featuring Keith Streng, Florent Barbier, Eric Boitier, Mike Edison, Marie Liminana, Elouan Davy, Carole Bigaud, Marek Pakulski, Palmyra Delran and Mary Huff. Many thanks to  Kurt Bloch at the controls, Ken Fox for the great picture of The Psychedelic Count and Eric Boitier for the design of the sleeve. 

Check it out, along with Peter's stellar Nuggets night performances from last May.   

40th Anniversary deluxe reissue of Young Fresh Fellows' 1984 debut on the way

Young Fresh Fellows' debut album, The Fabulous Sounds Of The Pacific Northwest, is getting remixed and they're going on tour!

Here's the scoop...

It’s 2024, the 40th anniversary of the YOUNG FRESH FELLOWS trendsetting debut -- the record that put soggy Seattle on the map! In celebration, the band will release a deluxe remixed Fabulous Sounds Of The Pacific Northwest on Omnivore Records. 

John Perrin (of NRBQ!) has been handed the sticks by the now-retiring Tad, joining Scott, Jim and Kurt to play a handful of shows culminating at Wilco’s fabled Solid Sound Fest.  Don't be afraid.  LLYFF!!!

Young Fresh Fellows on tour

May 24 - SEATTLE  Tractor Tavern (w/ Tripwires)

May 25 - PORTLAND  Mississippi Studios. (w/ Reverse Cowgirl)

June 21 - MADISON  Kiki’s House Of Righteous Music

June 22 - CHICAGO  The Hideout. (w/ Aunt Kelly)

June 25 - CLEVELAND  Happy Dog (w/ Cheap Clone)

June 26 - PHILADELPHIA  Kung Fu Necktie  (w/ Bret Tobias Set)

June 27 - BROOKLYN  Union Pool

June 29  NORTH ADAMS MA  Solid Sound Fest

Alejandro Escovedo inducted into Austin City Limits Hall of Fame on Thursday

Congrats to Alejandro on the ACL honour, it's just surprising that the Austin icon wasn't in already. 

Here's the scoop on the event from Austin City Limits...

Austin City Limits is proud to announce the newest class of Austin City Limits Hall of Fame inductees, recognizing a pioneering trio of music’s great live acts: Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams and Wilco. Music greats Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Doe, Sheila E., Lenny Kaye, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, Rosanne Cash, Bill Callahan, Terry Allen and Del Castillo’s Alex Ruiz will take part in saluting the newest class of inductees with one-of-a-kind music performances and tributes.

The 2021 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame inductees will be saluted at a star-studded ceremony to be held October 28th, 2021 at ACL's studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Musical highlights and inductions from the ceremony will air as a special on PBS stations across the country in January 2022.

Alejandro Escovedo

Called a “rock and punk godfather” by Rolling Stone, Alejandro Escovedo first debuted on Austin City Limits in 1983 with his seminal band Rank and File, and has made five indelible appearances. The San Antonio-born, California-raised trailblazer has been a punk of the rebel kind in early band The Nuns, a cowpunk of the non-Western variety in Rank and File, commander of a guitar army in The True Believers, an orchestral conductor in his solo work, and a sensitive boy who has outrun death, demons, lust, and lost love in his songs. Crossing borders, jumping barriers, taking risks, betting it all: that’s the path Alejandro Escovedo has taken in his lifelong search for the heart of rock ‘n’ roll. No Depression magazine declared him the Artist of the Decade at the onset of the millennium. His 12th studio album, 2018’s The Crossing, is a testament to his enduring power as a uniquely talented artist and collaborator. Escovedo has appeared on ACL five times - in 1983 (as part of Rank and File), 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2017.

Lucinda Williams

Louisiana-born Lucinda Williams has traveled a long road since her 1979 debut, Ramblin’ on My Mind, followed by Happy Woman Blues, her first album of originals released over forty years ago in 1980. (She says that she’s still “the same girl” except that now “I have a bigger fan base and I can afford to stay at better hotels.”) Over the course of fourteen remarkable albums, three Grammy awards, and countless accolades, including Time’s Songwriter of the Year of 2001, Williams is one of music’s most revered artists, beloved for her singular vocals and extraordinary songs. In 2018, she celebrated the 20th Anniversary of her watershed Americana album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road with a sold-out milestone tour. The pioneering artist returned to the gritty blues foundation that first inspired her as a young singer-songwriter in the late 1970s, releasing a career highlight, 2020’s Good Souls Better Angels, to critical raves and a pair of Grammy nominations, hailed “one of the most searing, potent and passionate albums you’ll hear” by American Songwriter. Williams has appeared on Austin City Limits four times, in 1990, 1992 (as part of a songwriters special), 1999 and 2008.

Wilco

In their over two-plus decades as a band, Wilco has won multiple Grammy Awards, released 11 studio albums, as well as a trio of acclaimed albums with Billy Bragg penning music to lyrics by Woody Guthrie. Led, as always by singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy, the influential Chicago band have founded their own record label (dBpm Records) and festival (Solid Sound). Wilco continue to be regarded as a live powerhouse, as described by NPR, “To see Wilco on stage is to hear the best of the best.” Rolling Stone hails their most recent album, Ode to Joy, “Their best in years, a beautiful exercise in downhearted uplift,” while New York Magazine raved “[Ode to Joy] is Wilco’s best album in over a decade, and solid proof there’s room for bands to grow even when they’re already ten albums in.” Wilco has appeared on the ACL stage four times, in 2000, 2005, 2007 and 2012.

Austin City Limits 2021 Hall of Fame Induction & Celebration

Thursday, October 28, 2021

ACL Live at The Moody Theater

310 W Willie Nelson Blvd, Austin, TX 78701

6:00 pm gates and will call open

6:45 pm doors open

7:30 pm showtime

VIP Party Begins at 6:00 pm

Get tickets right here. Watch Alejandro Escovedo perform "Johnny Volume" with Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Kurt Bloch which wasn't originally televised as part of the ACL broadcast. 

 

Al Bloch advises "You Gotta Have A Plan"

Al Bloch's new album Protest Songs is out now on Green Monkey. Check out "You Gotta Have A Plan" below. 

Here's what Al Bloch has to say...

Hello, Al Bloch here. This album, Protest Songs was recorded in September and October of this year, with me recording my parts remotely in Roanoke, VA and Kurt Bloch producing and recording his parts at Strictly Vintage in Seattle. I wrote all the songs after the recording of my other 2020 album, It Was All Once Bright Jewels, and while I thought the songs would be profoundly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, they turned out with nary a mention of it. Which probably is better for the listener, because really . . . who wants to keep being reminded of the events of this horrible year? So, ultimately the songs ended up being about zombies, pirates, cavemen, and other topics important to me, but not at all relevant to the year 2020. They came out of me, nonetheless. I thought the songs were good enough to present to my brother Kurt, and see if he would be up for working his magic and bringing them to life. He accepted, and arrangements were created and recording ensued. The songs were laid down very quickly, and that was pretty much that, as they say. The Bloch Brothers don’t mess around. Tom Dyer, from Green Monkey Records, jumped onboard and agreed to release Protest Songs. (happily -td) 

The album could very well have been credited to both Al Bloch and Kurt Bloch, as Kurt’s contributions were monumental and breathed life into my songs and really made them crackle. AND, because Kurt has much clout in the music world, he was even able to get the band BAD SCENE to join us for a cover of the great 1975 UFO song, “This Kid’s.” That song ends this album, but before that you get ten new Al Bloch songs that are pretty great, if I do say so myself. All songs were written on a Taylor acoustic guitar in a small room in my house, dedicated to my musical pursuits. In this room, which I keep very dark, I'm free to visit those places in my brain where I think those deep, rambling, non-linear thoughts that I try to coax outside with the sound of a pretty guitar chord. Sometimes I succeed and I have something that I call a song, a designation many would find debatable. These songs make me happy, and I’m glad I was able to record them with my brother Kurt, who is awesome. Also awesome is my daughter, the very talented Olivia Bloch, who sings with me on “A Pirate Melody.” Sort of a family affair, you could say. Which is just fine with me. I hope you, the listener, enjoy this album. And don’t get too comfortable, I hope to have another album out in mid-2021 that you might like even better. Thank you! 

Get a copy of Al Bloch's new album Protest Songs via Bandcamp right here. 

Watch the Young Fresh Fellows' creepy video for "Becky Doll"

"Becky Doll" feat. Coco Hames is off The Young Fresh Fellows' Toxic Youth album out now. Get it right here. 

 

Watch Alejandro Escovedo salute Johnny Thunders on Austin City Limits

Alejandro was joined by Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey & Kurt Bloch for "Johnny Volume" & "Castanets" left off the TV broadcast.

Here's the rest of the show from 2016...

Kurt Bloch celebrates his 60th with pandemic party album Farewell, Excitement

Birthday boy Kurt Bloch created his own party album, Farewell, Excitement which he's kindly sharing for free today. 

Sez Kurt...

"Since I can’t have a birthday party this year, I chose to make a party album instead. Following the lead of Scott McCaughey, I’ve quarantined a spinning doozy that you can download for free (for at least a while), or if you wish for a CD, a minimal charge... a mere pittance! Songs by yours truly, as well as Derv Gordon, Dave Dee, Andrew Cashen, Scott McCaughey, Pretty Things, usw… have a gander and I hope you dig it in the spirit in which it was created! Hang tuff, fellow RAGERS! xxxxxxxxxxx" - Kurt

You can get Farewell, Excitement right here. Listen to the title track below. 

 

Alejandro Escovedo gets Horizontal at WFUV

 Watch Alejandro cut loose with Kurt Bloch and Scott McCaughey on "Horizontal" from Burn Something Beautiful. 

Introducing... The Yes Masters

The self-titled debut by Kurt Bloch's new powerpop group The Yes Masters is out now on No Threes – listen below.