Super Heroine “Seether” Emerges From The Flames With A Guitar In Her Arms or Veruca Salt – Ghost Notes

July 8, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

How exactly the musical time cycle works (you know, that comic book like mystical place that makes old things new again) is beyond me, but I’m pretty damn appreciative of it at times. Such is the case with Veruca Salt and the ‘new/old original line up’ who sound like they just picked up from a few weeks off rather than the 18 years between albums proper. As they put it themselves on Facebook: “hatchets buried, axes exhumed.”

Ghost Notes begins with the self proclamation anthem “The Gospel According To Saint Me” which promises “it’s gonna get loud” in a bold RAWK star posture. They may very well sing it in those pretty harmonies, but there is no mistaking that ‘us against the world’ stance that is willing to blast you away with amplification. The second track “Black and Blonde” starts to chug through the opening chords and that “us” impression is completely verified as Louise Post has her ‘drop the mic’ moment cracking “I’m the greatest fucking thing that ever happened to you.”

Even the reminiscences of “Empty Bottle” fit the ‘don’t screw with us ‘narrative’ as Post belts “count the stars and we can bring them down.” The song may be a promise of loyalty but the lyrical imagery of gushing blood and universal destruction exude power immeasurable.

Perhaps that is the point and perhaps not, but Veruca Salt are now playing music with the confidence of a Stan Lee superhero. Picture it, Super Heroine “Seether” emerges from the flames with a guitar in her arms. Having beaten the ghosts of years past she emerges the conquering hero.

Now, grab the popcorn sit back and give it a listen.

Ghost Notes comes out on July 10^th and is currently streaming on NPR.

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/02/418654442/first-listen-veruca-salt-ghost-notes

With Honour and Reverence or Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos

July 7, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

Posthumous releases hold a strange place in the collective consciousness of the music masses. In most cases we see established artists whose lives have been cut short having albums put out by record companies mining demos for a last nugget of gold. Other times, records were near completion when tragedy struck and band members finish recording as a memorial. Chris Bell didn’t fit either of these bills.

The failure of Big Star’s #1 Record to get recognition beyond critics and music insiders meant that Bell never received or understood the extent of his talent and eventual influence. Disillusioned he left Big Star and from time to time he recorded out of differing studios hoping to release something that might connect and ultimately gain a modest amount of respect and adulation. Of course, it never happened. Other than the limited 1978 7” for “I Am The Cosmos” and “You and Your Sister” nothing was released before a car accident took his life on December 27^th 1978.

So it was that others were left with the task of compiling a record together to at once honour, shine a light and in many respects introduce the brilliance of a young and gifted solo artist. In 1992, the first Ryko edition of I Am The Cosmos arrived on record store shelves in only the CD format. Cassettes were sent out as promos to various media outlets and for quite a while, that was it. Mean while, the first wave of the Big Star revival was taking place and interest in the late artist was increasing with a bunch (Posies, Jayhawks, This Mortal Coil…) of recording artists doing cover versions of the title track.

With more knowledge of both Big Star and Bell, many people have wanted to get their hands on a definitive copy of I Am The Cosmos. The problem with that is there isn’t much more to expand upon beyond the quality of the initial release.

So here are the options:

The initial 1992 CD copy by Ryko

A 2006 180 gram vinyl version released by Four Men With Beards

In 2014 Rhino released a two CD remaster with companion disc containing alternate versions of some songs as well as three songs from Bell’s pre-Big Star days. (Some copies went out with a bonus 7” reproduction of the original “Cosmos” single)

Going through the various forums sound quality on all versions has come into question amongst the audiophile community. It isn’t that the criticisms aren’t valid, but certain facts need to be pointed out. Bell didn’t record a completed album, and had bounced between several studios in producing all the material that went into it. While I’m certainly no authority on recording studios in 1970’s Memphis, I can hypothesize that not all are equal. Different equipment and atmosphere from place to place means that things can be disjointed in terms of overall sonics.

That said, the songs are incredible and they rise above such criticism by the sheer beauty of the captured moment. Having both the Ryko and Rhino editions I can hear slight variance, but the music captures me in such a way that I quickly forget about any such thoughts. Honestly, I fully intend on purchasing the vinyl as well; trusting that the recording process was done with the same reverence as I carry for this record.

It’s a gorgeous record with some great songs and one I even hold amongst the greatest all-time. Give it a listen.

I Need A New Drug or Ten Great Alt-Rock Documentaries pt1

July 6, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

For all us obsessed music fans who love to dig deeper into the psyche of our favourite bands, documentaries are the gold mine that allow that little peek. Of course, don’t scratch too far beneath the surface or you might rub away some of the sheen.

Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

How do you tell a story about a band without their music, archival footage or band participation? Color Me Obsessed answers the question by having fans, critics and obsessed music geeks tell the story of the world’s most contrarian band.

Smashing Pumpkins: If All Goes Wrong

After the debacle that was the Billy Corgan solo record, filming began on If All Goes Wrong. This 2007 film sees Corgan resume the Pumpkins name with only Jimmy Chamberlain coming back in the fold. Surprisingly, the audiences in the film are indifferent towards new material causing Corgan to wonder about artistic expression and commercial success.

Upside Down: The Creation Records Story

One part bands, another part attitude Creation records gets a worthy and shocking documentary. Not only does it feature the story of some Brit-pops best bands, but also how the vision and overwhelming hubris of one man, Alan McGee whose own trials saw the rise and fall of a very influential independent record label.

DIG! (Dandy Warhols & Brian Jonestown Massacre)

Decried as more fiction than documentary by the bands involved, DIG! has absolute Spinal Tap moments with band disagreements and so-called ‘dust ups’ that leave no one unscathed. Two rival bands attempting to rise above obscurity in the midst of rockstar excess without the benefit of having been rockstars first.

The Flaming Lips: The Fearless Freaks

Chronicling the history of the self proclaimed “art-rock” band whose origins go back to the 70’s, director Bradley Beesley films the band over a fifteen year span covering from 1990 until 2005. The evolution of a band from “no talent garage rockers” to “alt-rock pioneers” is both frightening and life affirming.

Can’t Beat This; The English Beat Recording and You can get in on the action!

July 3, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

Trolling the internet as my seven year old sings along to “Mirror in the Bathroom” and I start to wonder about the sweet ska sounds of The (“English” In North America, “British” in Australia) Beat emanating from my speakers. So a quick google later and BANG!

The Beat is using Pledge Music to raise funds for a new record with plenty of exclusive items being given in exchange for your participation. Some of the items included are t-shirt ($25), autographed CD ($34), vinyl ($40) a phone call with vocalist songwriter Dave Wakeling ($103), and a bundle that includes the CD, vinyl, t-shirt, stickers, poster and a recent tour pass laminate. Not only will you be helping the band get a new record into your hands but also 10% of all proceeds will be given to Doctors Without Borders.

If you’re interested you had better act quick, items are selling fast (seriously, the autographed vinyl is already gone) and many items are down to their last few.

Check it out at http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/theenglishbeat

Hey Ho… Really, That’s all I have To Pay… Let’s Go! – Ramones (Coloured vinyl studio records)

July 3, 2015 / ds barrett / 3 Comments

Paying money for a Ramones record any time at any price will never be questioned by this guy. You see, you can talk about best and greatest and define this thing and that, but – without question or argument, if you ask me who was or is, the “Coolest Band” to have ever graced the planet, one word folks – Ramones.

By themselves they could never sell out a stadium. They did not create actual “hit” records that saw airplay on major radio stations resulting in huge sales. They didn’t own a jet, blow millions and become a Spinal Tap influence. Nope, these guys played in bars and earned their fan base one gig at a time, and in the end became recognized as the first and greatest of all punk bands. People know the songs; they jump up and play air guitar, dance or pogo when any number of their tunes gets played. They can’t name the tune but they sing along all the same. Ramones defy logic, and we love them for it. My own children aged seven and eleven can identify only two bands with just a couple notes – The Beatles and Ramones. Which makes perfect sense if you consider that in a 2002 Spin magazine edition listing the 50 Greatest Bands of All-Time; those two bands were ranked one and two. Well that, and the fact that both bands see an ample amount of time on the stereo.

So how do you build a vinyl altar worthy of the all time “Coolest Band?”

For me, it’s pretty simple – you collect something as visually stunning as the music they played.

Starting in 2000, Sire started releasing remastered copies of the Ramones records on 180 gram red translucent vinyl. The first was their self titled. Resellers are asking for $25.00 or more FOR STILL SEALED COPIES.

Road To Ruin was also released in 2000 and will set you back a minimum of $20.00

Leave Home was the next album released (2001). Resellers are asking less than $20.00 in some cases. Then Rocket To Russia and End Of The Century saw 2005 as their release dates with both records hovering around the $20 mark. Again remember, these prices are for sealed copies of audiophile vinyl, and I’m only covering the first five studio albums.

Other coloured versions of these records have been released since in limited quantity, but the resale asking prices on these starts to get a little more ‘pricey.’ There are a virtual ton of options open for collecting Ramones wax, but if you play your cards right, you can find really cool things for pretty reasonable prices. Then again, I could spend the kids college fund… and… oh come on, it was just a thought!

How The Hell Did I Miss This! Or The Decline Of Western Civilization Collection

July 2, 2015July 2, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

Not an ordinary documentary(not that such a thing exists), The Decline Of Western Civilization was a focal point for controversy and youth rebelling against… well, the same thing they’ve always been rebelling against – authority. But Penelope Spheeris certainly attracted the attention of ‘the establishment’ with her vivid looks at counter culture throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Hell, in 1981 infamous LAPD police chief Daryl Gates wrote an open letter demanding theatres not show the film in his city. Of course that only solidified the first films notoriety and in essence helped it to become a cult classic.

Released on July 1^st 1981, the first in the series was a look at the LA punk scene and featured Black Flag, Circle Jerks, X, Germs, Catholic Discipline and Fear. The movie poster accidently bordered on the macabre in featuring the Germs singer Darby Crash on stage with his eyes closed mere weeks after his death from a heroin overdose. The poster had been designed and printed before his death, but it certainly added to the hype surrounding the film.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years was released in 1988 and took a close look at the excesses and contradictions found in the LA glam metal scene. While Spheeris admitted to faking a scene with Ozzy Osbourne that depicted him shaking and spilling a glass of orange juice because of alcohol withdrawal; the rest of the film came off as a horror expose about the futility and stupidity of her subject matter. While the first films youths were fighting for something, the second saw the hair metal kids fighting for fame and fortune… aka nothing in particular. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is on record declaring that The Metal Years was in part responsible for the fall of glam metal and the rise of thrash and grunge; hypothesizing that fans were disgusted by scenes of debauchery. In essence the film suggests that fans just couldn’t relate on any level to the real existence of these rock stars and their hangers on.

However, the final film in the trilogy, The Decline of Western Civilization: Part 3, is by far the scariest and most difficult of the films. Originally, the documentary was only released on the festival circuit and hadn’t any official release since its limited 1998 run. The movie follows homeless hardcore street punks known as ‘gutter punks’ who have ‘extreme’ anti-establishment beliefs. Despite this, the end result is a commentary on homelessness, alcoholism, abusive parents, and broken homes. After shooting the third instalment Spheeris would become a foster parent. Part 3 went on to win awards at both the Sundance and Chicago film festivals.

Whatever it was that kept a general release from taking place has just been settled and the trilogy is out now on DVD and Blu Ray. Thankfully my birthday is in a couple weeks so I think I’ll add it to my wish list.

The Decline of Western Civilization Collection was released on June 30th.

Whre To Buy S!#t vol 3 (Blog rendition) – Newbury Comics

July 1, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

What do Wolverine, autographed CD covers and exclusive vinyl have in common?

Newbury Comics

If you’re hunting for the perfect gift for the geek in your life and you don’t want to leave your comfy chair, this is the place to start. The home page of Newbury’s website opens to three major products: comics with limited edition (variant) covers, autographed CD booklets and limited edition coloured vinyl from an eclectic variety of artists.

For the comic lover, Newbury sells exclusive variant editions of the latest comics, with new products available every week. Arriving from every major comic company, some of the most recent material has covers created specifically for Newbury customers. For instance, the new Marvel comic X-Men ’92 with exclusive Newbury cover, is now available. On the left is the Newbury edition and on the right is the one you see at your local comic retailer.

If you have an autograph seeking fan of say… Metric or Karen O, then Newbury can set you up with that. A quick click on their Autographed CD cover link reveals a large assortment of artists that have signed their work, ranging from Paul Anka to Spoon with many choices in-between.

However, the real treasure for me is the gift I keep playing on my turntable. A while back, in my quest to find cool vinyl, I found an offer for Nirvana’s Bleach in limited edition 180 gram maroon/black vinyl; I leapt at the chance to own it. Since then, I’ve found myself getting awesome variant wax releases on a fairly regular basis. This recent addiction has gone from Christmas gifts (Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas), to alt-rock (The Strokes – Room On Fire, Black Keys – Rubber Factory), classic-rock (The Velvet Underground – Velvet Underground & Nico, Lou Reed – Transformer ) musicals (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), jazz (Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue) and my personal holy-grail album: Big Star – #1 Record.

For a couple of years now, Newbury has been offering music fans a chance to get “limited edition” vinyl. The prices are competitive with regular vinyl editions that sit on the shelves of most record stores and the shipping costs are quite reasonable. To date, I’ve never had problems with any of the vinyl shipped to me. As for sound quality, I’ve played Big Star’s #1 Record gold coloured variant against the recent 180 gram edition and I’ve found both items sounding great… in fact, I’d lean more towards the gold variant as it “seemed” to have more presence in the guitar and vocals.

At Newbury, new items seem to hit the market every week (the Violent Femmes eponymous debut this week) and the choices, as mentioned earlier, are pretty eclectic; ranging from the Coltrane to The Clash and points in-between. Check them out, you might find yourself signing up to the old mailing list and buying something from time to time. Just don’t be too disappointed if it gets sold out before you get your shot. It’s happened, a couple of times, to me and caused a slight bit of teeth grinding and cursing. But then again, that’s all part of the fun of getting something unique.

A cabbage rolls across the stage and the band played on… or Teenage Fanclub – Thirteen

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

(True story – an over enthusiastic fan once rolled a cabbage across the stage as Teenage Fanclub played “The Cabbage” during a tour of Japan. Guess they didn’t get the heartbreaking translation of that particular tune.)

On the heels of a very successful Bandwagonesqe and a huge Saturday Night Live appearance Teenage Fanclub released Thirteen. It was rich with harmonies, had awesome songs, and Kurt Cobain was quoted as calling the Fannies the “Best Band in the World.” So with all that is it any surprise that in October 1993 the band that took in the award for Spin’s #1 Record of 1991 faced a backlash from critics. Thirteen wasn’t just disliked by rock writers, it was destroyed.

It didn’t make sense to me then, and in retrospect most critics have turned their opinion around to treat it more like a classic; one that I have always thought wasn’t just a great record, but ultimately stands of one of my favourite all time albums. It has the pop sensibilities of Big Star, the guitar effects of the “shoegaze” era and the driving bass of the 90’s alt rock period. It was a full package record that could be comical (“Commercial Alternative”) one moment and heartbreaking (“The Cabbage”) another.

So what are the vinyl options?

Limited…

The original 1993 pressing was only done for audiences in the UK and Europe on standard black vinyl. Used copies can be found for around $30.00 dollars and up. Actually I saw an autographed copy for about a $100, but once you add shipping… well… it’s a little more than most of us would spend.

On the other hand, Thirteen was remastered and reissued in 2011 for US fans by Org Music. The first batch was 180 gram white vinyl while everything after was 180 gram black wax. So far I have yet to see any complaints about sound while trolling the internet audiophile sights. Prices start around $30 but some resellers are jacking prices up as availability has begun to dwindle.

Really, Teenage Fanclub created a body of work that is power-pop bliss and Thirteen is a perfect example of a genre defining record that really deserves more respect than it received. You really should give it a listen.

Oh Come On Now! Or David Bowie – Five Years 1969 – 1973

June 28, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

Just a couple days since I wrote a piece on David Bowie’s Pin Ups and bang! The Big Announcement!

Bowie is releasing a giant box set entitled Five Years 1969 – 1973. The first in a series of new sets, this one will be a 10 albums featuring his first 6 studio records, 2 live albums, plus The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars 2003 Ken Scott Mix. In addition there will be a companion book featuring memorabilia, rare photos, hand written lyrics, press reviews and essays from the original album producers. It will all be available on CD and 180 gram audiophile vinyl.

Just to spell it out, you get:

David Bowie (aka Space Oddity), The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, Pin Ups, Live Santa Monica ’72, and Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture Soundtrack.

It will be released on September 28.

Not that I know anything about these things, but if he follows Springsteen’s example, but you can expect the newly remastered Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory and Pin Ups to get individual releases on Black Friday/Record Store Day. Either way, start saving now folks!

In A World Of Neon Spaceships! Or Electric Light Orchestra – Out Of The Blue

June 26, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

There was a point in the 1970’s when you couldn’t put on the radio for five minutes without hearing Jeff Lynne and co. pumping out crappy speakers with their latest single. Funny, but Electric Light Orchestra still sounded good through the crackle of a transistor radio. ELO at their best took on Beatles inspired tunes mixed with classical music and prog productions and boiled them down into three minute hit singles. Whether the songs were anthems, ballads or straight up rockers there was an atmospheric quality that loaned itself easily to emotional resonance; in other words you either loved or hated them. Arguably, they’re greatest record was 1977’s double album Out Of The Blue, with songs “Turn To Stone”, “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” and “Mr. Blue Sky” leading the charge.

So what’s the vinyl story?

Well… being a massive band back in 1977, there was a pre-order of 4 million records in anticipation of their huge following. It wasn’t just released on the standard vinyl, cassette and 8- track, but also on reel to reel. Some special limited edition vinyl was released in the UK and US on blue translucent vinyl which can still be found at both ridiculously low ($10.00) to outrageously high prices ($400).

The first batch of reissues started arriving in 86-87 with the release of the CD. As was popular at the time, it was just thrown out on the market without a proper remastering job.

In 1999, the first remaster resulted in a UK reissue on 180 gram vinyl. They can still be found on the reseller market for about $60 and up.

The biggest remaster was in 2007 for the 30^th anniversary of Out Of The Blue. Released by Music On Vinyl on 180 gram vinyl the first 1000 copies were issued on blue translucent vinyl and all after were on black vinyl.

Sound quality is reputed to be outstanding on the release with the blue vinyl fetching over $100.00 for unopened copies. The black vinyl will run you a minimum of $35 (it is a double album) but likely more in North America as it is an import.

Anyway, it’s great fun, and all you Muse fans should see what over the top production really means by giving this a spin. How can you go wrong in a world made of neon spaceships and classical influenced rock? I would love to get my hands on one of those original blue ’77 copies.

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Vinyl and Collectibles reviewed and geeked about!

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