New Releases on
RARadio:
"Darkness" by
Leonard Cohen; "Sweetbread"
by Simian
Mobile Disco and "Keep You"
from Actress
off the Chronicle movie
soundtrack;"Goodbye to Love" from
October Dawn; Trouble in Mind 2011
label sampler;
Black Box Revelation Live on
Minnesota Public Radio;
Apteka "Striking Violet";
Mikal Cronin's "Apathy" and "Get
Along"; Dana deChaby's
progressive rock
Berkeley's historic punk music label
shuts its doors for good (1/23/12), back catalog and all. Below are videos
featuring Lookout! acts over the years, including Green Day.
History of Rap
3
Any opportunity that
"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"
can find to showcase his extraordinary musical
talents is an opportunity worth taking, and inevitably a
performance worth watching. Fallon makes "it" - and that
encompasses quite a range of performance - seem effortless,
witness his vocals and dancing (check the Michael Jackson
perched on toes move) in this video. He sings his ass off in
a range of imitative voices. In fact, he sings better than
the immensely likeable Justin
Timberlake, truth be told. Judge for yourself,
but you will end up admiring them both.
_______________________________________________
Steve Evans Bass Solo
Steve Evans, pictured above
as a member of the Manzarek-Rogers Band, and who has also been a
principal player with Elvin Bishop, has a video (see
below) of him performing a bass solo within the classic tune
"Not Fade Away" as performed in the Lake Tahoe area with the Pete
Charles Band. It is kind of a casual gig and Evans' begins
his solo in fairly unimpressive fashion, but about half way into
it he really gets into it and it is a pleasure to watch
and hear. Check it out!
_____________________
Humorcore
Phoenix' Psychotrick Prepares Summer
CD
When you play in a band that’s dubbed
itself “humorcore,” and have made fans across the nation simultaneously
mosh and laugh to songs about serious topics like beer and sandwiches,
finding new ways to perpetually be funny, and shred at the same time,
can be a daunting task, like climbing the comedy-metal version of Mount
Everest. That said, Psychostick have made that trek, reached a new
zenith, and returned alive, without having to eat any of their
personnel.
The Phoenix, AZ-based quartet came back
from their latest creative voyage armed with Space Vampires Vs.
Zombie Dinosaurs In 3D, their new full-length record, and promise to
deliver everything Psychostick fans have come to love about the band,
and then some. The album is bursting with even more laughs per beat than
previous efforts, and contains the most precisely crafted songs the
group has composed to date.
“In the past we sometimes got too crazy
with musicianship—we focused too hard on that, and not enough on the
comedy, so we're going back and focusing a little bit more on the comedy
this time,” says singer Rob Kersey.
“Obviously the music is there, too, but I think it's the funniest thing
we've put out. We didn’t hold back.”
Psychostick—which includes Kersey,
guitarist Josh Key, drummer
Alex Dontre and new bassist
Matt Rzemyk—formed in Phoenix in 2000,
and released their first album, We Couldn’t Think Of A Title, in 2003,
which was re-released nationally by Rock Ridge Music in 2006. The band’s
life as a national touring act began that same year, which was kicked
into overdrive in 2007 when the song “Beer!” became a cult hit, grabbing
a coveted spot as the No. 1 single on XM Radio's Liquid Metal show for
seven weeks. Psychostick then took that momentum into the studio for
their second full-length, 2009’s Sandwich, before embarking on another
two years of touring behind the release. Over the years the band has
shared stages with Green Jelly, Nashville Pussy, Three Days Grace, Hell
Yeah, Nonpoint, Buckcherry, Five Finger Death Punch, Hatebreed, Chimaira,
Machine Head, Shadows Fall, Pennywise, and many, many more.
After touring tirelessly in support of
Sandwich, the band returned home ready to create again, resulting in
Space Vampires. But since their last album was a collection of songs
written over a six-year span, this time around the effort was
considerably different. Space Vampires was written on a clean slate, so
there’s little filler; the album showcases Psychostick as a lean, mean
comedic machine, giving the record an intensity that never wanes, from
the first track through the last.
“One thing in particular about this new
album that was really different for us is we didn't try to cram in as
much stuff as possible like we'd done in the past with some of them,”
says drummer Alex Dontre. “We didn't want to turn around and go totally
overboard and write way too many songs. We pretty much wrote everything
when we were putting the album together, as opposed to writing it over
the past couple of years like we've done with the other albums.”
Spending most of their time writing and
recording in Kansas City, MO, the band started work on Space Vampires
from scratch, mostly tracking straight into Key’s laptop. It was a new
process for the band, who decided to start with lyrics and topics first,
followed by music suited to the overall themes of the songs. The end
result was smarter song-craft, and musical moments that enhance the
hilarity happening within the words.
“With this new one, we literally just sat
down and said, 'Ok, what do you want to write a song about?' We'd never
done that before, and there's a lot of pressure, but once we started
going it was also a lot of fun,” reflects guitarist Josh Key, who also
produced and engineered the album. “Usually we'd write music and then
say, 'Ok, this song sounds like it could be about fill-in-the-blank,'
and put lyrics on top of it. This album was totally different: We
started with the lyrics and we wrote the music around the lyrics, which
makes a lot more sense for what Psychostick does. The music supports
what the song is about, instead of having an already written song, and
making it about something.”
One track sure to garner laughs, while
simultaneously making listeners cringe, is “The Root Of All Evil,” a
song devoted to spending time with everyone’s favorite healthcare
practitioner. “It’s about going to the dentist,” explains Key, who wrote
the song, unfortunately from personal experience. “I got a series of
dental work done after neglecting my teeth from six years of touring, so
I ended up in the course of a few months having a tooth pulled, a root
canal, and seven cavities drilled. I wrote it in pieces driving to and
from the dentist—I just sat there with my little voice recorder on my
iPhone. That song was very genuine; if you're going to write a song
about going to the dentist, what better time to write it, than on the
way to the f***ing dentist?”
“One of my favorites would probably be
‘Sad Face Emoticon,’” adds Dontre. “It's all about basically people who
get on Facebook and go all overboard with it, and take it so seriously.
We created a song about how we want to block everybody, and not pay
attention. Hopefully they’ll realize how ridiculous they're being, and
maybe take a step back from Facebook and actually live a genuine, actual
life, as opposed to living online.”
The band also take some time to skewer
the unbearable romantic comedy film genre, which creates a false list of
expectations for love, for both guys and gals. The track “It’s Just A
Movie, Stupid” dispels such delusional notions, of course with classic
Psychostick humor and flair.
“It's a song basically declaring war on
chick flicks, like, 'Ok, romantic comedies, that's all good and well,
but it's bullsh*t—that's not the way real life works and it's not the
way real relationships work,'” notes Key. “Love at first sight, all that
stuff, it makes us think there's something wrong with our real
relationships. It's kind of a bittersweet song, and I think it's f***ing
hilarious. These movies create this whole unrealistic fantasy that can't
be achieved. You can miss the point: You're supposed to enjoy a girl's
company, and she's supposed to enjoy yours. That's all there is to it.”
Psychostick plan on shooting multiple
videos for the tracks on Space Vampires, since visual representations of
their special brand of musical comedy are a no-brainer, followed by
massive touring in support of the new album. Although it’s not always
easy for a band as unique as Psychostick to find a bill they fit onto,
once they’re on stage the group are truly in their element. As crushing
recent performances in front of large crowds a la the Mayhem Festival
prove, Psychostick have evolved into a live force to be reckoned with.
“We're trying to get out with bands like
Gwar and Every Time I Die—bands that have a comedic edge to them. We're
making small baby steps toward finally nailing that big tour, but I'm
confident we'll get there,” says Kersey, adding that Psychostick
continue to grow both as individual musicians and as a unit, only
enhancing their prospects for the future. “A lot of bands start up and
they don't quite understand that it does take quite some time for your
band to mature as far as playing together, and playing shows. It took a
long time to get to this point, but it's worth every minute.”
www.psychostick.com
www.facebook.com/Psychostick
www.twitter.com/psychostick
www.youtube.com/robofpsychostick
www.myspace.com/psychostick
For more information, please contact:
Krista Mettler, Skye Media & Rock Ridge Music publicity@rockridgemusic.com
___________________________________
Basket of Bones
San Francisco Bay
Area hipsters lose their minds, play like the Grim Reaper may be in the house!
Watch their video below.
The Louvin
Brothers
Back there in the beginning of
time, around 1968 A.D., when the once-cool future Rock'n Roll
Hall of Fame band The Byrds,
or at least what was left of them (Roger
McGuinn and Chris Hillman), were putting together
their Sweetheart of the Rodeo
LP, someone contributed the idea of putting a
Louvin Brothers tune on the
album.
The
Louvin Brothers (left) had been regulars, in the '50s and early
'60s, on The Grand Ole Opry,
so they were widely known in legitimate country music circles,
and using one of their signature tracks conferred a certain
connection to country authenticity that the L.A.-based Byrds
otherwise lacked. That was an issue for their "Rodeo" album,
because it had steered wildly off course and away from its
original intent after Gram Parsons
was brought aboard to fill-out a quartet.
McGuinn had been wanting to do an
ambitious retrospective of American musical idioms, of which
country music would be only one aspect. Parsons, on the other
hand, had an agenda to function as an architect of a hybrid
musical form: Country-Rock. The usurper Byrd Parsons carried the
argument and Sweetheart of the Rodeo was born as a
"country-rock" album, a product regarded derisively by the
Nashville establishment, which got wind of the new sound when
parts of the album were recorded in Music City. Given the
psychedelics around which the original Byrds had made their
fame, real Country devotees had every reason to suspect that
Sweetheart of the Rodeo was bullshit. In fact, it was not a
particularly good album, and not a particularly successful
commercial effort, but it turned out to be important in the
history of pop music for the foundation it created for "country
rock".
Or "crock".
To this writer's mind, this one album, even though it didn't
sell well, somehow set in motion a commercial radio
revolution that managed to screw up any number of legitimate
musical veins, including but not limited to Country,
Western, Country and Western, Pop Rock, Pop, Pop &
Rock, Folk-Rock, and Bluegrass, among perhaps other genres.
The 1970s "corporatization" of the recording industry
packaged musical expression in more restrictive ways and
rewarded middle-of-the-road formulas that destroyed the
robust insurrection that had characterized the recording
industry of the 1960s. The effect on the public was as might
have been expected. Discretion in musical tastes waned,
along with the public's cultural sense of authentic American
musical forms, until finally today we have Kenny Chesney and
Lady Antebellum and Toby Keith representing the cream of the
country crop. Climbing off my hobby horse now...
The Byrds' choice of the Louvin
Brothers' signature tune "This Christian Life" seemed odd, even
more than a little pandering to the Grand Ole Opry set, but it
was not entirely out of left field.
Chris Hillman had been raised in the Bluegrass
musical tradition and in terms of religious fundamentalism
mirrored some of what the Loudermilk brothers, Ira and Charlie
(stage name Louvin), reflected from their Southern Baptist
upbringings. Hillman would go on to have a long history of
involvement in Nashville music circles, including producing a
number of Christian-themed albums.
The Louvin Brothers split as a
duet in the mid-60s and Ira, considered by many Country music
experts to be one of the finest tenors the genre has ever known,
died in 1965. They were a colorful pair who sang about the
Christian life, but were constantly involved in marital and
extra-marital intrigues, scandal, divorce, substance abuse, and
no small number of bullet hole injuries. The Louvin Brothers
have pretty much been consigned to the annals of music history
now. There they reside as exemplars of the "close harmony" style
of singing that typified the influence of Southern white
churches in the development of what we now call Americana music.
- RAR
In 2001, the Louvin Brothers
were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The
tribute CD Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the
Louvin Brothers, produced by Carl Jackson and Kathy Louvin
released in 2003, won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Country
Album.
____________________________
Brother Claude Ely
Elvis Presley's mother thought the
world of that man pictured on the book cover below.
That is the late
Brother Claude Ely, whose
legend as the "Gospel Ranger" of King Records made him an
influential figure in the Southern U.S. from the 1930s through
the 1970s. It came to an end, with his notoriety never moving
much beyond the South, when in 1978 he literally died singing in
front of his congregation.
Ely influenced every performer who
came out of the South with exposure to the Pentacostal Church,
which was Brother Ely's spiritual home, though his inclinations
were more itinerate. As a boy, he learned that he had a disease
that would take his life before he became an adult. The story,
as told in "Ain't No Grave: The Life & Legacy of Brother
Claude Ely," goes that the youngsters parents bought him a
box guitar, which he taught himself to play with an odd rhythmic
strumming style (up and down, like painting a house). Then, when
he was 12, he announced that he was not going to die and he
performed a song that he had written, "Ain't No Grave (Gonna
Hold My Body Down)". It was the beginning of a life-long
commitment to singing devotional material that to the ears of
youngsters like Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis sounded a lot
like rock'n roll.
The
dying Johnny Cash recorded the song on his final album, he too
having been a recipient of Brother Ely's message, and the
popularity of that Grammy award-winning album brought the
songwriting pioneer to the attention of a greater number of
people than had ever heard of him before.
This
is all told in the book by Ely family member and researcher Dr.
Macel Ely II, whose work is described as "a gripping and
compelling true-life story of inspiration about the life and
legacy of Brother Claude Ely. The author based his project upon
oral history ascertained from more than 1,000 personal
interviews with musical artists, ministers and Appalachian
residents who remember the singer/preacher and his impact upon
the lives of countless mountain people."
There is a video feed below that
isn't actually video at all, but does provide the listener with
a taste of what Brother Claude was all about.
He would drive into towns carrying a
bullhorn and announce that he would be doing a tent revival
show. People would gather and witness the most full-throated and
heartfelt exhibition of passion for the "spirit of the Lord"
that they would likely have ever encountered, and it would leave
them moved.
To this day, people in Pentacostal
Churches clap off the beat of their music, a signification of a
channel of spiritual communication that was a gift to them from
this one man, Brother Claude Ely. To the rest of us he gave the
spirit of rock.-RAR
Album
“Hypno Switch” Scheduled For June 21st Release
Orlando, FL and Asheville, NC
band The Black Rabbits
will be releasing their debut full-length, “Hypno Switch”
(produced by Stan Lynch and Billy Chapin of Tom Petty & The
Heartbreakers) on June 21, 2011, via Rock Ridge Music. Of
the signing with the label, band lead vocalist Jetson Black
says: “We're really excited to be working with Rock Ridge on
the release of our debut album. They are a very
down-to-earth group of people and we're glad to be a part of
their tribe."
Says Rock Ridge Music CEO Tom
Derr: “Stan and Billy called and said, 'We've got a band for
you.' It took me 30 seconds to realize they were correct.
That, coupled with the vision of The Black Rabbits -- we
were in.”
The Black Rabbits consists of
brothers Jetson and Skyler Black (lead singer and drummer
respectively), along with bassist Yuki Tong and organist Kim
Drakeley. “Our music is a bit of an oxymoron,” says Jetson.
“It's loud yet soft, edgy yet pure; it has retro elements
and modern ones. It's both serious and playful at the same
time.” The group blends a mix of classic and alternative
indie rock elements with influences such as The Who, The
Pixies, The White Stripes, and The Doors.
In early 2010, still virtually
unknown, the band released their first debut EP produced by
Lynch and Chapin. The EP peaked at #96 on the CMJ TOP 200
and stayed on the chart for over two months alongside huge
bands such as The Flaming Lips. As their EP climbed the
college radio charts, The Black Rabbits scraped together
what cash they could and toured the East Coast. Soon after,
the blogs and indie zines were buzzing. The Miami New Times
wrote, “There's a feel-good, timeless bounce to the songs
that should appeal to Boomer parents as much as
twentysomethings in Converse.” OurStage said, “Like a train
that chugs along and suddenly threatens to go off the
tracks, The Black Rabbits brooding, theatrical garage rock
makes for an exciting ride.” Orlando Weekly praised their
“clearly etched, pop-smart ’60s rock & roll.”
During this time, The Black
Rabbits garnered some mainstream attention that led to them
being invited to play the Grammy Showcase during the Florida
Music Fest, interviewed by MTV as an up and coming band,
featured on Fox News, as well as being placed in television
shows across the networks such as “Keeping Up With The
Kardashians” and “Bad Girls.”
_______________________________
Independent Music Award 2010
Winners - 10th Annual
The IMA is currently sponsoring
a program to gain artist access to copyrighted
classics for a low licensing fee.
Section
Category
Winner
Winning Work
Album
Adult Contemporary
Ali Milner
I Dare You
Album
Alt. Country
Possessed by Paul James
Feed the Family
Album
Americana
Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three
Riverboat Soul
Album
Blues
Little Miss Higgins
Across the Plains
Album
Children’s Music
Oran Etkin
Wake Up Clarinet!
Album
College Label Release (Album or EP)
Birdie Busch
Everyone Will Take You In
Album
Compilation Album
Various Artists
Classic Appalachian Blues
Album
Concept Album
My Glorious
Home Is Where The Heart Breaks
Album
Contemporary Christian
Craig Whittaker
Standing
Album
Contemporary Classical
Zoe Keating
Into the Trees
Album
Country
Darrell Scott
A Crooked Road
Album
Dance/Electronica
Flying Lotus
Cosmogramma
Album
Eclectic
Marco Benevento
Between the Needles & Nightfall
Album
Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Jane Taylor
Compass
Album
Gospel
Asylum Street Spankers
God’s Favorite Band
Album
Indie/Alt./Hard Rock
Melissa Auf der Maur
Out of Our Minds
Album
Instrumental
Dwayne Cote and Duane Andrews
Dwayne Côté and Duane Andrews
Album
Jazz
Omar Sosa & NDR Bigband
Ceremony
Album
Latin
Arturo Ortega
Teoria Hibrida
Album
Live Performance
Jackson Browne & David Lindley
Love Is Strange
Album
Metal/Hardcore
Ceremony Of Darkness
13
Album
New Age
David Hoffman
Calmness of Spirit
Album
Pop/Rock
shoe.
Speed of Life
Album
Punk
The Knockouts
Among the Vultures
Album
R&B
Michael Stewart
Where I’m Going…
Album
Rap/Hip-Hop
Radio Radio
Belmundo Regal
Album
Reissue
Ola Belle Reed
Rising Sun Melodies
Album
Tribute Album
Various Artists: All Sewn Up – A Tribute
To Patrik Fitzgerald
All Sewn Up – A Tribute To Patrik
Fitzgerald
Album
World Beat
Sofia Rei
Sube Azul
Album
World Traditional
Zhao Jiazhen
Zhao Jiazhen: Masterpieces of the
Chinese Qin from the Tang Dynasty to
Today
EP
EP
the binary marketing show
Clues From the Past
Song
Acoustic
Amanda Duncan
Love I Have for You
Song
Adult Contemporary
The Webb Sisters
Baroque Thoughts
Song
Alt. Country
Jake and the Leprechauns
Busy Bee
Song
Americana
The Dustbowl Revival
Dan’s Jam
Song
Blues
Toy Soldiers
Throw Me Down
Song
Children’s Music
Joanie Leeds & The Nightlights
More Cowbell
Song
Contemporary Christian
J. Douglas Wright
Glorious Savior
Song
Country
The Steel Wheels
Nothing You Can’t Lose
Song
Cover Song
Lindy LaFontaine
Low
Song
Dance/Electronica
Svoy
Automatons
Song
Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Madison Violet
The Ransom
Song
Gospel
Divas Redemption feat. Paul Smith
Love Him 4 That
Song
Holiday Song (Any Holiday)
Myla Smith
Christmas Lights
Song
Indie/Alt./Hard Rock
Midnight Spin
Trigger Finger Itch
Song
Instrumental
Tim and Myles Thompson
Gypsy Samba
Song
Jazz
Earl MacDonald Jazz Orchestra
Bad Dream
Song
Latin
Domino Saints
Ahora es Ahora
Song
Love Song
Seth Glier
Naia
Song
Metal/Hardcore
Kaspar Torn
Pole Shift
Song
New Age
Sada
Gayatri Mantra
Song
Pop/Rock
Fictionist
Blue-Eyed Universe
Song
Punk
The SpacePimps
The Guide To Ruining Your Life
Song
R&B
The Alex Boye Review
Good For Ya Babe
Song
Rap/Hip-Hop
The Model T
Can’t Do It Like Me
Song
Sing Out For Social Action
KJ Denhert
Choose Your Weapon
Song
Song Used in Film/TV/Multimedia
Christopher Tin
Baba Yetu (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir)
Song
Story Song
Alex Berger
Snow Globe
Song
World Beat
Christopher Tin
Baba Yetu (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir)
Song
World Traditional
Music of Central Asia Vol. 9: In the
Footsteps of Babur: Musical Encounters
from the Lands of the Mughals
The
Louvin Brothers (left) had been regulars, in the '50s and early
'60s, on The Grand Ole Opry,
so they were widely known in legitimate country music circles,
and using one of their signature tracks conferred a certain
connection to country authenticity that the L.A.-based Byrds
otherwise lacked. That was an issue for their "Rodeo" album,
because it had steered wildly off course and away from its
original intent after Gram Parsons
was brought aboard to fill-out a quartet. 
That is the late
Brother Claude Ely, whose
legend as the "Gospel Ranger" of King Records made him an
influential figure in the Southern U.S. from the 1930s through
the 1970s. It came to an end, with his notoriety never moving
much beyond the South, when in 1978 he literally died singing in
front of his congregation.
