GRANT LEE BUFFALO: NEW (OLD) RIDERS ON THE STORM (HYMNALS)?

You'd never have known these guys hadn't played together in a very long time...
Their show the other night would not have given you any indication. Grant Lee Phillips
mentioned the songs they would be playing were from an era when they "practiced a lot".
It showed. The airtight rhythm section of Paul Kimble (bass) and Joey Peters (drums) and Phillips on twelve string played through any number of pedals sounded like a well oiled and muscular machine. They joked about loud / quiet dynamics and showed them off effortlessly. "The loudest slow songs you'll ever hear", Phillips joked. I always associated them more the alt-country of the mid-90's, mostly because of Phillips Americana-soaked  lyrical bent. His voice was always front and center for me, burnished baritone and aching falsetto waltzing through songs of of the old weird America, which seems to be getting weirder by the way... But Phillips also shreds. Reminded me of Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr at times, with big blasts of riffs.

Phillips is a natural storyteller and cut-up. He spent most of the evening cracking jokes between songs. Some of the music is melancholic to say the least and he and the band recognize that. It's like they are introducing oddball members of the family. That humor may be absent in the bands earnest songs, but it is an essential part of their show. They looked like they were having a blast and it certainly sounded like it

When they mentioned knowing a "hybrid of a Doors song", the audience roared. What followed is their version of The Doors-doing-the-theme-to-Gilligan's Island to the music of 'The End'. Phillips' Lizard King was dead on complete with drone-y eastern tinged guitar riffs.

Giligan.
Yes, little buddy.
I want to kill you.

Devastatingly funny and musically perfect.
Then they tore your heart out with "Rock Of Ages".

Hopefully not the end.... Maybe a new record!?




GRANT LEE BUFFALO:

The OG line-up consisting of Grant Lee Phillips, Paul Kimble and Joey Peters.
Live at the Old Town School. March 29, 2014.

SPICOLLI'S BAGEL VS BASS DRUM OF DEATH

IT'S MY SKULL!

EXPRESSWAY TO IT!

RAWK AND/OR ROLL

BASS DRUM OF DEATH!!!!!!

WTF? A band called F+CK

I forget how I stumbled upon these dudes, but I played their albums incessantly. Still have the occasional 'fuck-fest', hence today's post and glorious return to blog-o-land...! I can vividly remember driving through New Mexico at dusk listening to 'Pretty....Slow'. Perfect laid back lo-fi soundtrack. Bi-polar as well, fuck. These guys played all over the map, but hit a sweet spot with super hushed countrified slow jams. One minute they sound Cobain-esque, the next maybe Jeff Tweedy, then David Byrne/Brian Eno... The name pretty much killed the band I would imagine. They refused to change their name while on Matador records. And left after two albums. They recorded two more LPs on multiple labels, then called it quits around 2003/4. They didn't play anything remotely hardcore, so the name probably fooled too many people.

(Above is a sticker that came inside their  'Baby Like A Funny Bunny' album. I had it on my motorcycle at the time. One night someone pushed the bike over and took the sticker... FUCK!)

Fuck

American indie rock band, Oakland, California in 1993. (Timothy Prudhomme, Geoff Soule, Kyle Statham, and Theodore Ellison.)
 

CD: PRETTY....SLOW (1996)

LP/CD: BABY LOVES A FUNNY BUNNY (1996) 

LP/CD: PARDON MY FRENCH (1997)

 

LP/CD: CONDUCT (1998) 

 CD: CUPID'S CACTUS (2001)

 CD: GOLD BRICK'S (2001)

CD: THOSE ARE NOT MY BONGOS (2003)

LISTEN TO A WHOLE BUNCH OF FUCK!

Detail from Fuck coloring book/insert 'Pretty Slow'

MASTERS OF REALITY: Ginger Baker vs. Steven Seagal?

 MASTERS OF REALITY

Masters of Reality were active in the early 80s to early 90s in Los Angeles. They have subsequently reformed and played ever since, with leader Chris Goss at the core. Goss is probably is better-know for producing, and sometime playing with, Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. But Masters were/are an amazing band their own right, particularly live. Rick Rubin produced their debut and the sound is undeniably a Rubin record, but it only goes to perfectly frame the sound, not dominate it. His signature move.  It was one of the earliest released on his then-nascent, Def American Recordings. Rubin worked on a lot of rock records around that time. Starting with The Cult's Electric in 1987, then with Danzig and Slayer with American. Nevermind the Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magick... Drums are huge on the record like those release, His Hip Hop side bringing the low theory to the mix. Its more grunge blues than the slick hair metal of their contemporaries of the era. The band played blues-tinged heavy rock with a dark Texas backbeat. Broody and grooving.

The debut album came out in 1989, no one really bought it, and it disappeared. It popped up again in 1990 with an extra track and different art and promptly vanished again. The cover art of their first album reminds me of the Haunted House ride at Disneyland. It was actually designed by their drummer. Story is in the promo video for the re-issue of their debut LP on Delicious Vinyl.

Then they reappeared in 1992 with Ginger Baker?! for their second album, Sunrise on the Sufferbus, which actually had a Top 10 hit with She Got Me (When She Got Her Dress On)

 

Somehow Steven Seagal appears in their video to Domino from their debut....

 Mad Men Live! 

OH MY SO HIGH 

 Ginger-ed Masters! 

Grumpy Goss speaks! 

MASTERS, 2013

CHECK THE WHOLE DEBUT!

THANK GOD IT'S BIG STAR!

I bought my copy of Big Star's Radio City at Tropicalia Discos in Rio, Brazil. Dudes KNOW their sh@t. Deep seven inch knowledge of the most obscure + funky cuts from Brazil....

But, this is about the back cover. Big Star digs Fridays! The photo on the back the 1974 album was shot at Fridays restaurant. Was Fridays the hawt spot back in the day? Check the close-up. Probably accidental sponsorship. Nowadays the band could of gotten some corporate cheese.
Check out photographer William Eggleston's account of the shot of the iconic front cover. CLICK

Damn, I've listened to this record a lot...!

Close-up + back cover

Built to Spill: Chilton and the boys

Big Star#YeahYeah

supermarket the moon, a band of gypsies or mexican r & b?

KALEIDOSCOPE: BLUES FOR ALLAH

For some reason The Growlers got me thinking about Kaleidoscope and lo-and-behold Everloving Records, who put out The Growlers last EP (Hot Tropics), put out a couple obscure records by former Kaleidoscope member Chris Darrow. The band also featured David Lindley.

'Keep Your Mind Open' always sounded like a Guide By Voices track to me, though not sure why.
'Sefan' and 'Taxim' also have the Greek/Eastern vibe.

The Real Blues For Allah!

THE GROWLERS: JETS TO BRASIL AND THE HOT TROPICS

Get ready to hear a lot more from The Growlers. Their next record is being produced by The Black Keys Dan Auerbach and should drop very soon and they play Coachella this year. Dig their already solid brew of surf, psychedelia, blues, Americana... I see the Morrison thing in the beach bum vibe. Didn't the Doors form in Santa Monica? Also in the west coast sunny doom sound sound ala The Doors, The Byrds. The tunes have some of the parlor music vibe Morrison and the Doors messed with. Love the Jack Coleman videos in that old school Super 8 style. They were down in Brazil for Rock in Rio and played with Los Hermanos Marcelo Camelo. Check the live footage and the mini-movie below.

OS MUTANTES L' SHREDDING, SHILLING THESPIANS - ON TV + FILM

The best thing outta' Brazil since bananas! Os Mutantes rule. Found a couple unbelievable videos recently, not to mention the previous Redd Kross post, so there you go. Mais (More) Mutantes!!!!

First video is The Mutants themselvez in Paris circa '69. The band hung out enough in France to record a whole album of songs in 1970, many of which were English versions of their tunes. The album, intended to crack the international market, went unreleased until 2000, when released as Tecincolor complete with crappy Sean Lennon artwork. (Another story...) Amazing versions, though I guess I prefer the Portuguese versions. Cool to hear different arrangements of familiar tunes and wonder... The stuff is so killer in any language that only in our parallel universe did it not go global (Well Sooner...) Safe to say Mutantes are international. Er, galactic now days. Kurt Cobain name checked them, and actually wrote a letter to Arnaldo Baptista. It's great music for kids, actually. The song Ela e Minha Menina is turned into Oba Oba She's My XuXu (pronounced 'shu shu') Guess I'll have to put that one up on youtube myself...

Two classics, tight black n' white. Ooh La La! Rare French footage.

The Kidz are Alright!

High quality color footage shot in Brazil, gotta be '71 or '72. "You know I feel a little spaced out" in English. Yeah, toasted, nicely toasted.

Whatdoyouwannadowithyrlife?

Rita Lee and the band in a scene in the 1967 Brazilian film As Amorosas. Trip-py, Wow! Kooky face paint and flowers. Psychesploitation?

Well it's 1969 OK!

Rocking out on Brazilian TV program for the youngsterz.... Dig. Sacou?

"Know-it-alls!" Gilberto Gil

Shell commercials the band did in 1967. Way before The Who 'Sold Out'....

Our favorite record is Stoner Witch