Book Report

Just finished The Rose & the Briar: Death, Love & Liberty in the American Ballad. Given the wide array of contributors, it's a bit uneven (David Thomas rambles as one might expect, Jon Langford amusingly paints his section). There are some solid pieces detailing the history of (mainly) murder in song. It's edited by Greil Marcus, who's Lipstick Traces probably gave unwanted and unintended intellectual/historical/academic credibility to punk (Nevertheless, I found that book inspiring).

Previous to the Rose & Briar, I read White Bicycles. I'm not a big fan of much of the music Joe Boyd produced but the book is great... especially the early chapters detailing his escort of significant US blues artists through Europe.

Which reminds me, maybe the best all-time music book: Peter Guralnick's Feel Like Going Home.

Since I mentioned Thomas...

Humble Pie - Don't Need No Doctor.

Fuck, yeah. Not much else to say.

Billy Preston

Session musician (pianist/organist) for the likes of The Stones, Beatles, Dylan proving he's no slouch in the vocal department. Fella on piano ain't too shabby either.

UFO with Mick Bolton

UFO started out in the early '70s as a heavy'n'dumb three-chord proto-punk band. If you haven't heard their early stuff with guitarist Mick Bolton, check out the albums "UFO 1", "UFO 2 (aka Flying: One Hour Space Rock)", and "UFO Live". Here's a great clip of the original band doing "Prince Kajuku" on a long-lost TV show.

Rivalry

John 8-Clip (allegiance) is a good friend of ours. Here's a little thing he did for Rivalry with Allegiance as the soundtrack... sick...

Rivalry Records Showcase 2008 Intro / Trailer from John Jenkins-Stark on Vimeo.

Lost & Found

Nuggets 3? I had no idea. Cleaning house, I just stumbled into my old Crypt Records Back from the Grave vinyl. Garage from both sides of the Atlantic desegregated and intermingling with one another. Unrelated, I also unearthed a record I must've bought in the nineties entitled Skinhead Revolt. Probably familiar to you gentlemen, forgotten by me...

Eastern Ruins

Diggin' around for research today, found this guy's photography devoted to Japanese ruins...

Michael John Grist

Couple of the desolate shots reminded me of the setting for The Eel. Pretty good flick. But I suppose there's nothing about this post that's particularly musical. Let's see... um, one of the friendliest band I've ever met was probably...

Tits

1977 records in Japan has been banging out some top shelf reisssues of impossible to find punk bangers. The recent haul includes the Filth 'Don't Hide Your Hate', and Hollands Tits 7"... killer shit....

Lyres

TP begged the question which Nuggets is better...Vol 1 (US) or Vol 2 (Euro)...I'm for Vol 2. Now following those two there was a Vol 3 which covered the 70's through the 80's.Lots of new garage bands, some good some not so. My all time faves from the 80's are the Lyres. Their LP 'On Fyre' is a fantastic slab of garage psych.....

Leavin Here

An all time fave... covered to death... can't decide which is my fave? I heard Motorhead's first, then the High Numbers (later became the Who), the the Birds. The Birds version is tough as shit...

Youtube Pacifier

Y'all probably seen this before, but if you're lookin' to entertain/distract a kid for a few minutes, you can do worse:

US Rap Rebuttal

But can your guy bang a timpani?

Evil Ed

Big fan of UK Hip Hop...just has a different feel and style. Couldn't find the jam 'the colony' so this'll have to do...

Sonny's Lettah

Straight to the head.

Mr Wobble's Nightmare

Kid 606 with a d.step take on the old 4Hero rave classic 'Mr Kirks Nightmare'. Video is quality.

Bad Boy

You Pete Wells died 4 years from yesterday. Why not pay omage to that raw mother fucker by jamming a little Rose Tattoo.

Nuggets

Finally got my mitts on an affordable copy of the nuggets box set and was amazed that it did live up to it's legendary status. It's some feat to compile 100 or so tracks and every one be a corker - not a filler in sight. Got the series Mind Rocker as well, which is also worth a look, although I suspect I'm preaching to the (already) converted.

Siamese Minds - Killer Instinct

Great jungle tune from 95 (track is Killer Instinct not Mr Mafia as labeled), sampling the infamous Samuel L Jackson speech from Pulp Fiction - Been waiting a while for someone to post it up on youtube. One of those records that hasn't been spoiled by being cained to death.

Magic Touch

I have a fave vers of this song that I play out...always gets fett moving.... hadn't heard these 2 versions before....awesome..

ATR 1999

Not an ATR devotee, (although do have one or two of their lp's) but found this mental (and brutal) footage of things kicking right off at one of their performances during an anti NATO demo.

Pi

Classic 'old skool' dnb tune by Clint Mansell, composer extrordinaire taken from Pi (quality movie) - Come a long way since the PWEI days.

Dj Kentaro - Shuriken Cut

Killa video from my Japan's second best turntabilist.



For all reggae fans his refix of The Revolutionaires 'Kunta Kinte' is also worth a butchers.

Au Pairs

fantastic female indie punk... had this on a comp from Lee fuckin yearssss ago...still haven't snagged the record....

SXSW Rundown.

We had one of our intrepid B&M reporters on scene. Dig in here for the full SXSW lowdown.

Stamp Out Disco

I've been a fan of Aussie punk for a long time - especially the 77-80 period. I think theremoteness of the country during the pre-internet days meant that countries were able to develop their own style without being overly influenced by others. Bands like News, Razar, Radio Birdman, Though Criminals etc all hada thuggish element that I really like. Razar were from Brisbane, did 2 singles...this one is the best...

ROEHRS

Allan wrote a fitting obit to our friend Bruce in the Bay Area Guardian.....

Stagger

Oldie by Skream...my fave tune of his... from way back. Ill little edit to 'This Is England' too....

New Roky LP...

Roky Erickson's new LP is out in April then he's touring again. I'll be there! He's doing the LP with Okkervill River who I think kinda suck...so we'll see how it pans out. Fuck it...as long as he bangs out this track, I'm fine.

Blues_001

Got my old man to mix us up an hour of 30's blues, all vinyl and all good shit.

Massan

Tricks may get the chicks, but I would rather watch a cat like Massan bomb the streets of my fair city anyday. The last part of video, when he is going foot-less (not to mention brake-less) down Oak, may or may not have been an actual suicide attempt.

Massan for Leader Bike from Dan Arel on Vimeo.

Slumgang - Shotgun Wedding

Don't usually double post bands.... but as I've said before - Slumgang were my favorite band of the 90's. These songs remind me of such good times and good friends. So good....

Touch My Soul

Tend to ignore most 'modern' attempts to recreate northern soul and so this one slipped through the net. Uses a small sample of Steve Marriott from 'Afterglow Of Your Love' which makes the record as well as borrowing from a number of original n/soul records.

Timebox - Beggin

Classic.

Blues Britannia: Can blue men sing the whites.

90 min documentary telling the story of what happened to blues music on its journey from the southern states of America to the heart of British pop and rock culture.

Saw this a couple of days ago, not a huge blues fan but found this riveting, features The Yardbirds, Zep, Manfred Mann, The Stones, Muddy Walters etc....

George Campise

George is one of our friends over at Seventh Son. Top Guy. Top work. Top shop. Nuff said.

Tattooist George Campise from Kwality Media on Vimeo.

Raiders Of The Living Dead

when I was 16 me and Matt Morrisson used to skive off college and watch zombie movies. We watched anything that looked skint. My fave was this one 'cos it was the worts/best.

Alex Chilton RIP Pt 2

TP beat me to it. What the fuck? what is this? an obit blog?. Too many good people going...sucks. Chiltern was only 16 when he sang this banger.....I love this track....

alex chilton rip

Wasn't sure what to put up... Replacements? Cramps? Big Star? Don't know.

Bruce Roehers. RIP

One the true legends of the punk scene died this week. The man was 60 years old,...had seen the Who and the Stooges back the day yet was still at the front watching Airfix Kits or Never Healed. He was a great inspiration for what we do here as his love for music was infectious.... even if he did have some dubious tastes!!!. The man was a good friend and a gentleman. We are crushed.

TNT

ACDC are an all time fave round our yard. Here's Lu with our neighbor Sierra banging out a kareoke version.

60TS_002

Been listening and scoopin up the odd bit of psych/garage of late - enough anyway to scrape together an hour long mix, sure this will be the first of many.

Frightened Rabbit

New LP out. New video.

Psych Site

Found this blog specializing in psych, which is the dogs. Most of the entries are flac (uncompressed) and cover everything from the main boxsets to those rare 'as hens teeth' lp's.

Russian Crime Tattoo's.

By far the best thing about the Cronenberg film "Eastern Promises" was the tats and their specific meaning amongst the russian underworld. A few are touched on over at Russian Criminal Tattoo with anutha gallery here.

The Fans

Jesus Hates Klingons

I had to.

Christy Moore & Politicized Folk

I'm a big fan of trad Irish music, from the Wolftones, through Planxty and Christy Moore. Moore added modern politics to his folk during the early 80's when he sanf songs about the Hunger Strikers in Belfast as well as songs written by Bobby Sands (the first of the 1981 Hunger strkers to die). I've always had a soft spot for Christy...

Best band in Montreal

best part is that every member of the band is actually Illegal.

Songs The Cramps Taught Us

Been smashin this lp all day today - 50Ts & 60Ts rare rockabilly and garage - Covered and touted by the band - impeccable selection.

Rubber Johnny

Thought I'd revive this one, hadn't seen it for a while - classic.

Bricks And Mortar 9hr Blazedown

Tonight

Irish Punk

This blog is sick - lots of good rips....

DIYirishhardcore

Listen To Bill Hicks....

Guy was a fucking legend. Film comes out this summer.

Death/ FTL Interview soon.

We managed to track down the elusive Death from the FTL/KUK Graf crew here in the bay area for an interview. Stay tuned people, this one should be sick.....

Ngozi Family...

Yet another face melting psych masterpiece from Zambia - a couple of years back the release of the long lost Chrissy Zebby Tembo LP caused a stir.... that LP featured these lunatics as his backing band. This LP 45,000 volts has been reissued in a limited quantity by No Smoke records from Portugal. As with a lot of these Zambian records, the reissues come and go in a blink.

You can DL the sucker here.

Spring

Days are getting warmer and longer:

Not music, but I like it alot.

Thanks to Barfield for showing this to me.

Crass - Securicor

That Special Duties post had me reaching for Crass.... a lot of their stuff leaves me cold...it's all a bit tuneless and dry, but when they hit it? Fuck. I'm a private in a private army, I'm a private in a private army.......

Kinda Awful

As if the earthquake wasn't bad enough, it's inspired a Macgowan, Cave, Hynde and others to become Blues Hammer. Good cause but... I don't know. The clip certainly receives an impressive number of exclamation marks.

Infa Riot

The first band I was in was called 'Five Minute Fashion'. We were named after an Infa Riot song. Not many people know that.

Bullshit Crass

So after 20 something years I finally got the Special Duties LP '77 in 82'. Back when I was a nipper they were the anti-punk to bands like Conflict and Crass that I loved at the time. I grew up in the arse end of the arse end of nowhere - Camborne, Cornwall... 2hours to the nearest city (which at age 14 may as well have been the fucking moon). We sat around thinking the revolution was coming....'it can, it will....it is.... happening'. Anyway, Special Duties made the Exploied look like college professors... anti CND songs and the anthem 'Bullshit Crass'. I have quite a softspot for them now.....

Grenade Ping Pong

Start your day off right with a little game of to-the-death Ping Pong.

V/vm

Not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're open to 'anything' check out the V/vm label. Expect the unexpected from the filthiest gabba and acid to some of the most atmospheric and beautiful music around. The back catalogue is also available to download gratis from their site.

The Stranger(dark ambience), The Caretaker(haunted dancehall a la shining) and Leyland Kirby(deep & reflective) are all guises of owner James Kirby and should be checked out first.


Chris de Burger - Lady in Red



The Caretaker - Stardust



The Stranger - Something To Do With Death

Tom Watson for MP

Most of the shorts at 5secondfilms.com are funny, and if you haven't been to the site it's worth the two minutes you'll spend watching every video, but these two are especially funny. Mostly because of the super-intelligent shark people. They're a problem apparently.

Starjets - War Stories

Starjets were one of a handful of killer pop inspired bands from Belfast. It's interesting as the Harp bar in downtown Belfast was one of the first places in the city that kids could meet in a non sectarian environment - along with bands like Rudi, Outcast, Ruefrex, SLF etc the city had a pretty excting scene. I had no idea the Starjets were on Top Of The Pops.

Flys - Love and A Molotov Cocktail

This band gets played pretty regular at B&M nights - this song is the fucking jam....

Everett

Trying to get caught up on the Bricks & Mortar posts, I was pleased to see Everett. I'm sure he appreciates the recognition. Thanks. Yeah, we've been overwhelmed in cuteness here. I did manage to introduce him to Otis ("Happy Song"). He also seemed to like Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane." Now he knows that villians always blink their eyes. That's way more informative than Mozart. Next, Mekons:

The Irish Texans

My dad was a bartender when i was kid. Every year for St. Patricks day he would take me down to George Wesbey's pub in Dallas, Tx, put me up on his shoulders and together we'd watch the Irish Texans play. The Irish Texans we are band made up of ex- Belfast dudes who fled to Texas for some reason or another( wink , wink). They were the first band I ever loved and to this day I'll put on the record dad got me for my 25th birthday and just get stoked. Granted, this ain't the Texans, but they did used to play this song, plus its as close as i can get. Also, they did a song about Tequila and another about Mexican food. Hence, The Irish Texans.

Calligraffiti

Goin Blind.

Good morning yall.

Soul 005

Anutha 60T's mix this time with extra mod and r&b pressure. Pick of the bunch goes to Frankie and The Classicals, one of those tunes that just stops you dead in your tracks, amazing vocal and a dope violin break. Hard to believe they only put out one single and even the veteran headz couldn't ply me with more info. Also managed to track down The Pussycats 'I Want Your Love' which even though not a northern soul record, used to go down a storm on the dancefloors back in the day (so I'm told). Njoi.

Busdriver - The Trogolodyte Wins

Besides that the track is great, you have to appreciate a dude who raps in a "I heart Men" sweatshirt:

You've Got Nothing On Me Broosky

Below is a screenshot of a certain Bricks And Mortar contributor's e-music reccos. Be sure to click on it and view big.

Blue Moon

When I was 4 this was my favorite shit - loved it. A little later (6?) me, James Thomas and Mark Shirra did a performance of this song in school. Epic. James did the low part... I think I was lead. First show I ever saw, they killed it.

Hunger

Watched this on Friday. Heavy. Thought it was a romantic comedy. Bummer.

Mr Shit Talker

My band played the other night... it was cool. Some 'friends' were talking shit about our recent Razorcake interview under the guise of a joke.... hahaha. Fuck you shit talkers.

The Antiques Market Isn't Just for Shabby Chic

Pre Fuck Jam...

If things aren't hotting up clubwise I find dropping one of these treats always has the ladiezzzz sweatin'... DJ Funk's gonna hurt somebody.....

Fuck Jam...cont'd

The romantic "a glass of wine while we listen to some smooth soul" tactic is an admirable approach. However, when you're in a pinch the "oops, I 'accidentally' played this song on my car stereo while we're driving over to my place" method is also worth considering.

For that, maybe something along the lines of the following...

Fuck Jam

There comes a point in every man or womans life where the ideal fuck jam is a must. Most have moved on from the 2nd date left hand and jean jamming on their moms couch. This is where the fuck jam comes in. " Hey, I'm gonna put on a record. Relax, take of your shoes, let's get weird. Oh this? It's my dude Al Wilson. Oh and this? It's my penis, looking all buff and shit."

Roy Head

Great tune and even greater footwork from the 'white james brown'.

Happy Accident- Stay With Me

It sounds a bit cliche, but sometimes the stars align, and as a result, some amazing stuff goes down. Such is the case of Lorraine Ellision's amazing track "Stay With Me (baby)"



As the story goes, old blue eyes himself, Sinatra, canceled a studio session. Ms. Ellison just happened to be recording in the same studio and ran into the "stood up" 46 piece orchestra. ONE LIVE TAKE later, Sintra's boys and Lorainne Ellison banged out the aforementioned soul classic.



The only shitty thing is trying to find the original LP for under $80. Until then...

Best Of pt.1

Best Of pt.2

Happy Friday. Enjoy.

Everett

Congrats to Bricks and Mortar boy TP on the birth of his son. After we got the backslaps out the way here's the email he sent. Nice one son....

"Thanks. There was a bit of a musical story regarding his birth. The anesthesiologist asked if we wanted to listen to something while they performed the c-section. He claimed he had everything on his ipod. So Tif requested Otis Redding. Nope. Patsy Cline? Nope. Charlie Parker? Nope. I asked about Cash. Nope. The requests and denials continued while I was pulled away. When I returned, everyone had settled/compromised on Dave Brubeck... which was all right I guess since it's a lazy west coast sound (and there probably wasn't any Chet Baker).

I've only had surgery once (thankfully). Went into it with the Clash."

Thank god for pain

Saw/heard this report (hit the pic) from Haiti. Felt really inspired by this guitar player. And once again, it proves that pain makes for great music.

FTL/KUK

Tommy McCook

Anutha legend.

Steve Marriott - Great IVW

What a bloke.

Carrie Nations

And don't forget the Carrie Nations ... thanks you Russ Meyer

Sleater Kinney

This band came out the back end of the Riot Grrrl thing. I love their early records... less into the later gear, but they were always solid and great live. The missus loves 'em....

Grrrls

California Love

NORM AWR/MSK.

Hi, I'm Logan. I like country music.

David Allan Coe lived in a fucking cave . He went to prison. He was on death row. He played in a band with Dime Bag Daryl. I know what you're thinking, Is there anything DAC can't do? Well , what we do know for sure is that he sure as hell cant pack a jail house mess hall.




And Yes. I'm sure he is a total piece of shit, but I'll be damned if he doesn't rock the shit outta that belt buckle.

"On your way to wonderful, you're gonna have to pass through alright"

Sometimes I can't enjoy a good song until it's taken out of context, e.g. buried amongst utter shit on stations like KFog. The songs of Bill Withers are a perfect example. When you sandwich a song like "Ain't No Sunshine" between "Oye Como Va" and Cherish, it quickly looses it charm.

But when you pull it out, it's a wonderful thing. A well crafted pop song that strips down all the studio tricks and relies on good lyrics and simple songwriting. To me, THAT is Bill Withers. A guilty pleasure? Sure, but one I've come to terms with (others will stay buried deep in my psyche).

At any rate, I was pretty stoked to hear about SF Native Damani Baker and Alex Vlack new Documentary, "Still Bill". A film eight years in the making.



To find out more, visit the film's homepage or check out this nice little segment on NPR's Fresh Air.

I'll leave you with one of my favorites, "Grandma's Hands"

Gangster for Life (cont)

To piggy back on Brooksy and PA's posts about the state of dubstep, which definitely isn't what it was a year ago, there are a select few putting out tracks that would get pulled back.

The super dark Koan Sound:



Dub based Zomby:



And Joker:



Bassnectar. Not really Dubstep but filthy:

Little Sonny

Scraping together some tunes for a new mix and unearthed this nugget from Little Sonny - A killer take on the classic, which'll go down well with anyone of the mod persuasion. If you like this worth checkin out 'Memphis B-K' which is equally dynamite.

The From Hells

I have posted about Slumgang more than once. This is Pug's new band. Geezer is a stone cold fucking legend (he's the one singing in his bedroom at the begining). Salute!

Hard Skin

Best Oi band you cunt. Sean is a genius.

Charles Bronson

So Logan was telling me he is playing for this band Herds. I was looking for them (ex Charles Bronson)... found some shitty live stuff but while searching I found this sick boxing video of our favorite English prisoner battering fuck out of someone. Sick.

Damien "Pink Eyes" Abraham Interview

Pretty good interview with Damien from Fucked Up over on Pitchfork.com (I know) about music from Gucci Mane to Diplo. Interesting read.

South Rakkas Crew

Thanks to top tips from Seanee I'm all over some of the new Mad Decent shiz. South Rakkas Crew bring the noise. Heavy tune...and a re-rub of an all time fave....

Skanky Panky

Dead Flies & Bmx Bandits

Bmx Bandits


Dead Flies

Own a Piece of History. Revok Does Melbourne pt. 2

A brilliant marketing tool or plan to pay back the Aussies? Doesn't matter really, it's brilliant nonetheless. Get yours at Karamaloop, every new New Yorker's favorite outlet for happy hardcore duds.

For a mere $25, you can get on the ground floor of this historic internet video- which will probably be forgotten by days end- But does that really matter. Instant gratification is the name of the game.

http://www.karmaloop.com/products.aspx?ProductID=94207&VendorCode=SEV

Buy one, or if you're really legit, rack it and brag to all your homies on twitter.

Revok Does Melbourne

Banksy For Sale

Everything sells at a price... Banksy in Jamaica... these heads know better than to paint over it!!!

The Afflicted Yard: The Rock from First on Vimeo.

DJ SAGE

One for the old school DnB headz.... Sage on the 1s and 2s. SF style 99.

San Francisco Knights

This track came up on shuffle during my commute in. Forgot how much I used to like this track and this crew.

Bluebird

Not sure why, but I got to thinking about this Bukowski reading I heard some years back. Pretty awesome.

The Afflicted Yard

The Afflicted Yard - Amazing photography that depicts everything that is beautiful and ugly within Jamaica. “A place of extremes where you will see life as we see it. Watch it or change the channel.”

Gangster For Life

Feeling Pierced Heart's lament about the state of Dubstep. Me and Unit were battering it to death a couple of years back, but I seldom find shit that fires me up these days. Here's some old remix fire...

Mondo Vision 5

Peep it.

Mondo Vision Episode Five from Mondo Vision on Vimeo.

1945A

Allegedly this only had a $2k budget. Pretty epic

1945A from Ryan Nagata on Vimeo.

Double Up

Benny Gold

More Benny.... good times..

Show This Sat...

Young Offenders are playing on Sat with some friends. El Rio. Mission. Should be a time....

Major Lazer

Sleaze KUK

Bah Humbug

Used to play out a fair bit of dubstep but over time have developed a love hate relationship with the genre. Not having bought anything for a while went fishing for some tunes and after a couple of hours wading through generic beats, identikit basslines and tired reggae samples managed to walk away with a few heavy tunes. Pick of the bunch Zomby "Where were you in 92" lp - which brings hardcore and garage to the dubstep template and a more uptempo Skream Rmx of Riot Music.