Alejandro Escovedo returns to Tarrytown Music Hall and I was there!

I feel particularly privileged to be able to say I got to see Alejandro Escovedo this past Friday at the Tarrytown Music Hall once again. He was the warmup act for Shelby Lynne, though to be fair he played much longer than opening acts ordinarily do.

The man tours a lot and he seems to be getting at least some of recognition that he has earned. Certainly many musicians hold him in high esteem. Hell, when he plays New Jersey they have to put up barricades to keep Springsteen from hopping on stage with him.

Two years ago he performed along with David Pulkingham on guitar, and it was outstanding. Alejandro's a charming guy with a seemingly unending accumulation of anecdotes, a first class songwriter, and it easily was one of the best shows I've ever seen at Tarrytown. Pulkingham has a lot of musical chops, but what was really amazing how they complemented each other on stage.




As good as these shows have been, I still want to see him with his full band though.



This time around it was Alejandro with Susan Voelz, who is probably best known for her work with Poi Dog Pondering. She is a violinist, and she was awesome to say the least. They've collaborated together for years apparently, and this was a combination that really worked. At some points in the show I started thinking Velvet Underground, with the intensity of her violin reminding me a bit of the John Cale/Heroin/Electric Viola period. They did songs like Down in The Bowery, Sally was a Cop, Sister Lost Soul, and Five Hearts Breaking. He told us that Sister Lost Soul was not really about Jeffrey Lee Pierce of the Gun Club, but was actually about his ex-wife who was now deceased.

At the end of the set, he asked for the house lights to be turned on. He & Susan strode to the front of the stage and performed Rosalie without  mikes. Beautiful song, and an amazing story of enduring love behind the song.



He is such an amazing songwriter. As I sat watching the show, I was thinking that maybe 75 years from now people would still be singing these songs. In the same way The Band and Bob Dylan looked back in time to what we would call traditional music.  But the funny thing is that his songs seemed to be based in real life and about real people. Years later maybe all the specifics  will long be forgotten and disassociated from the music, but the power and emotional resonance will still remain.

Two standing ovations for an opening act is no small feat. Probably a few tears were shed in the audience. I felt a little bad for Shelby Lynne. She was alright, but I guess I'm not really into country that much. She has a big voice and I enjoyed  a lot of her songs. She seemed like a pretty gutsy person. She played guitar and had two guitarists supporting her who were extremely fine musicians. She ran the set democratically, allowing the two guys to air out their instruments, and it was fun to see them intricately and effortlessly trading licks. The guy playing slide guitar was especially interesting, and on one song he played either the mandolin or ukulele. Overall, she was well received, but I think the crowd was a little more interested in Alejandro's set. He actually came out later with Susan Voelz and did a duet with Shelby Lynne, singing All I Have to Do is Dream, by the Everly Brothers. Sweet.

It seems that Alejandro is always on tour, so if he is in your vicinity you should go out see one of our country's most accomplished songwriters live while you can. My only regret is that I wished he had better swag for sale at his gigs. And yeah, I'm still waiting for the DVD.

Cover Them Impressed! I'm in Love with that Song--Australian Replacements Tribute

Lampshade Optional....

 

 

It's hard to believe it but the Replacements are back! It seems like almost everybody comes back, if only for a limited time only. I was looking at Paul Westerberg's website and it looks like he and Tommy are really enjoying this. And if proceeds are going to help Slim Dunlap, who is very ill, it is a
 great cause.





But this post is about a tribute album from 1999. I haven't really done a lot with tribute album's but this is one I really like.

I don't have a lot of buying music stories recently. Unfortunately it involves the click of a mouse more often than not. But when I finally got around to buying I'm in Love with this Song, an all-Australian tribute album of Replacements tunes, it turned out the disc was long out of print and was pretty pricey.

One day after work I noticed someone was selling one for a reasonable price. It was late October a few years ago. The weather had started to go a little haywire here in New York. It was snowing, which is extremely unusual for us. Within a few moments, I noticed that the branches on the trees were hanging down; the snow was so heavy the branches were literally touching the ground within a matter of a half hour. Just as I went to purchase the disc, the power went down. Power came back about 5 days later, so I have mixed associations with this album. But I don't regret the purchase as much as the deferred gratification.

As far as The Replacements go, I probably identify with them more than any other band. They could be me, or people I know. Sometimes if you are in the Burbs, you kind of feel like you're from nowhere, as though you, Paul, Bob, Tim & Chris were all from the same home town. Of course I had the opportunity to see them in their prime at Mabel's in Champaign-Urbana and blew the gig off for schoolwork!

To some degree, I think every tribute is a mixed bag. They can be label showcases, sometimes they are bloated productions with a host of big stars paying tribute to another big star. Some of them seem to be slapped together a little too carelessly. It seems to me that this collection is more of a labor of love, of combination of Australian contemporaries who loved their music, and other bands who bought  their music as teenagers and were thus encouraged to pick up some guitars and raise some hell.



As far as tributes go, this is better than 90% of your typical covers collection. For the most part the songs don't stray too far from the originals--which is unfortunate. Maybe you might have wanted a few different songs represented. I probably know about half the acts on this, if only by name in some cases. Its nice that the roster of bands is not a stag party--there are some women belting out the tunes which I think is great. And I'm pretty certain that all the albums are represented. From the snotty to the sublime.

I knew from the very first song, Brad Shepherd's spirited take on Alex Chilton, that this tribute was a keeper. It's a little faster and punkier than the original--less sentimental but just as powerful. Brad of course is a member of the HooDoo Gurus, an Australian institution, so its no small wonder that he smacks this song out of the park. When I hear the song, it feels a little ironic, like we're celebrating the next generation of underappreciation, like Chilton passing the baton to Westerberg. The powers that be thought they would be America's Rolling Stones, but as it turned out they could only be themselves, brilliant, warts and all. And this tribute shows the reverence that musicians hold for this band (even halfway around the world), but also the unimpeachable quality of the songs, which rings truthfully through these interpretations.

The Celibate Rifles make an appearance here performing a sans-mandolin rough take on I Will Dare from Let it Be. Power poppers IceCream Hands do a nice version of Swinging Party. A band well worth seeking out, Brother Brick, represent well on Color Me Impressed.

Other bands that I recognize are Challenger 7 who smash through Left of the Dial with panache. The Pyramidiacs have their way with On the Bus. Pop aficionado Dom Mariani's DM3 do a nice twangy Rock n Roll Ghost. You Am I cover White & Lazy from the Replacements Stink, and its okay--I'm not sure how much you could do with this. The Finkers have fun Tommy gets his Tonsils out.




As far as groups I'm unfamiliar with go, Blood Sucking Freaks pounds out Taking a Ride with conviction. Really good take on one of the standouts from Sorry, Ma.....Half Miler's hard 90's sounding take on Here Come's a Regular is one of the few covers that strays from the songbook a bit.
And it works. Erbs & Pisces do a mashup of both sides of the Mats first single, I'm in Trouble/If only you were Lonely. Nick Barker, Michael Thomas & Jen Anderson do a nice jangly countrified version of Skyway with lovely three part harmony, a violin solo, and if I'm not hallucinating, a banjo.

I enjoyed The Scruffs doing Can't Hardly Wait--not as good as the original but much better than the movie with the same title. Eva Trout perform Androgynous--female vocals seem very appropriate here. Mandy Pearson and Love Me do a nice version of Sadly Beautiful--it's like listening to the song from an entirely new perspective. Achin' to Be is similar to the Alt-Country sounding original but with piano added to the mix.

If you haven't figured it out, I really liked this Tribute, but not nearly as much as I like the Replacements. Who knows, maybe they've another chapter to write in their songbook.


Here's another interpretation not from Australia, but from another American legend.

Wednesday is Best Friends Day!!! Kepi for Kids---ex-Groovie Ghoulie Zanes out Impressively

I didn't do a post on children's music last December for nieces birthday. She was just inducted in the National Honor Society and I'm proud of her achievement, so now is as good a time as any. So here is a fairly recent children's release from the former front man of the Groovie Ghoulies, Kepi. Of course adults are allowed to listen also.


If you thought was South Sudan is the newest nation, now we have Kepiland. Though it may not be the biggest country, and the World Bank and World Trade Organization might find the economics a bit unusual (the money is love, the money is hugs, you get paid in high-fives), it seems to be a fun place for Kids.

If you don't know who Kepi is, pick up some Groovie Ghoulies now. Halloween is almost upon us and they embodied Halloween  as well as about any rock group I know. You know, Ramones with monsters and UFOs. But this is his first venture in the world of childrens music. And I really like this as an album for kiddies.

I think that children's music is akin to kids movies. Kids want to see a movie that's interesting, but ultimately its parents that buy the tickets. So its a plus if Brad Pitt is the voice of the surfer penguin, or Britney Spears is the dyslexic wallaby. Kids could care less about this marketing tactic--the sad effect of this is probably never going to be another Mel Blanc. And its an easy paycheck for the actors. So anyway, on some level you want to take your kid to a movie, but you need a hook.

That can be evident in shopping for kids music. You want your kids to be exposed to music, and to develop an appreciation for the art form. There is a tendency to project your tastes onto your kids. But kids are kids, and you don't want them to grow up too fast.

I'm happy to say that Kepi successfully walks the tightrope between hipsterdom and honestly making a kids album. Because the emphasis of the music is that it really is for kids. Its a pretty sweet album that would be okay for toddlers even. If you are familiar with the Groovie Ghoulies, you know that he has a great ear for a hook. And the songs are goofy, touching, and have elements of wisdom, while hearkening back to his music for older folks. To put it succinctly, its a sweet little album, and not too long for the short attention spans of youngsters.

So you have tunes for kids like I Can Talk to the Animals, and the Country stomp of Thunder & Lightning. I can definitely see kids jumping up and down to the song Spazz Out! or Do the Kangaroo!

As far as adults go he does a reprise of the classic tune The Beast with 5 Hands, which is actually a bit of a love song to a girlfriend. He also sings the tune Dee Dee Taught Me How to Count which reference I'm sure needs no explanation. I picked up a Ramones for Kids record, which was okay, but I felt leaned a little to far toward adults rather than the actual target audience.

A Little Bit Weird is a nice song which preaches against conformity, that its okay to be yourself because everybody is different in their own ways. Thunder and Lightning is a song about not being afraid of bad weather. I really like the song Moonbeam--its basically lullaby in the style of Buddy Holly a great song.



In my estimation the hit single though is Days That End in Y, an extremely hook laden kiddie masterpiece. Basically a Friday I'm in Love for the little ones.

And of course there is the Kepi artwork which only adds to the quality of the release. This is a pretty good little kids records that I would definitely recommend.

Here's the Groovie Ghoulie version of The Beast with 5 Hands!

Ending the Summer with Novelty and Sadness

Here's a little fun music as Summer grinds to its 2013 conclusion.

Here's a little Boston Surf Comedy from the late 70's. One of my roommates had this single. I'm pretty sure there are a few future members of The Cars performing on this.







Here's Voyage of the Aquanauts by The Posies. It's their song "Flavor of the Month" with new lyrics from an episode of Bill Nye the Science guy, who recently appeared on Bill Maher's Real Time on
HBO.






On a more serious note---Martin Phillips with some string arrangements from Van Dyke Parks. From the excellent "Soft Bomb" album by The Chills. My favorite New Zealand group. Submarine Bells should be owned by everyone.

Retsepti--რეცეპტი--Reissue of Powerful Georgian Post-Punk band

I found out about Retsepti accidentally, when I was buying a Pointed Sticks Xmas single from La-Ti-Da records. I was browsing their website and was looking at the Supreme Echo catalog, a reissue label that they help distribute. They put an album out by a Georgian band.

The City reined by Wolves

So I saw the 2006 anthology CD by Retsepti that they put out and I really thought that it would be worth listening to, though I had no idea what I would be getting precisely. Buying music blindly can be a hit or miss proposition, obviously. I had heard no hype from any source about this recording, but as it turns out my musical intuitions panned out. Though the vocals are all in Georgian, which leaves me at a bit of a disadvantage, this is a strong collection of post/punky new wave goodness. And though you can certainly make comparisons to other bands, this is by no-means cookie-cutter imitative music.





The first thing I noticed of course was the elaborate packaging. I have to imagine that it wasn't easy for this project to come to fruition for a label in British Columbia, Canada to release an album from a former Soviet Republic halfway around the world. Jason Flower at Supreme Echo states in the liner notes that "this has been the most challenging and painstaking release to-date." And no doubt there was, beyond a belief in the powerful music of Retsepti, a great deal of economic bravery. If this was a movie instead of an album, which required getting backers to fund it, the concept alone would probably doom this to a thumbs-down. Who would be your market for this, who would buy this release? Not even where's the single here. So obviously a labor of love--a recording that they felt the world needed to hear, and I am in complete agreement. You have to admire people who undertake projects like this. Clearly this collection was intended for an English speaking audience. The song lyrics have been translated into English. There apparently was some restoration work that needed to be done on the music, but as far as questions exist about the sonic quality of the recordings, the music sounds pretty good for me. Nothing was added or dubbed in.

Of course, playing this sort of music must have entailed a great deal of bravery and idealism in the face of oppression. The consequences of speaking your mind over there is probably incomprehensible to a person like me living in the USA.

The Band:
Lado Burduli--lead vocals, guitar
Zaza Sakhamberidze--guitar
Kakha "Josef" Gugushvili--bass
Shalva Khakhanashvili--keyboards
Vova Vardaniani-drums
Sandro "Kirpicha" Kapanadze--saxophone

In trying to describe the band, its almost hard to pin them down, because the songs were recorded over a number of years, and stylistically the songs vary a bit. What is consistent however, are the powerful, tortured, angst-filled vocals of Lalo Burduli. These guys really meant business judging by the music. That must have been a pretty tough era to live through--though the yoke of being a republic in the Soviet union was thrown off during their existence, the transition must have been harsh. As far as the music goes, the band play their instruments with a great deal of competence, with some fairly spectacular guitar work. In a lot of ways the songs I like best on the collection remind me of Adrian Borland and the Sound, or maybe The Chameleons UK. They remind me of early Wire in some places. One of the songs with saxophones had a sort of pop quality that made me think he may have been a Bowie fan. But overall, there is a beautifully ominous tension to the music and when combined with Burduli's fervent singing, there is some great music being made. This album was way way better than my expectations.



There is a long interview with Burduli in the liner notes, very interesting. He definitely seems to be a lifer, rebellious, independent in his opinions, unrepentant yet still a little idealistic. I spent only a few days in Georgia in the 1980's when it was still a CCR, and I was pretty amazed by the country, the culture, the people, the great cuisine and wine. I had an idea of how things were in Russia but for me Armenia and Georgia were a blank page for me--I had no preconceived ideas. I guess I was smitten in the same way Russian writers over the past centuries have spent time in this area to the South and written about it. So maybe that was why I was drawn to this recording initially. But ultimately I was rewarded with my purchase because this music is pretty terrific.

Of course, what is interesting to me may not be to you. This music might not be for everybody, but if you like to hear new things (or in this case a new old thing), this might be just thing to give your jaded ears some relief.

Transistors---Awesome Punk-Pop from New Zealand

Hi folks. It took a good band to get me out of my dotage. Definitely been a mixed bag of a year to say the least.

The Transistors are a band from Rangiora, New Zealand. They have just released their second album Is This Anything? on Arch Hill Records about a month ago. I don't even have their album....yet, but from what I have heard I can't wait to say something about them. They have opened for The Buzzcocks on tour in New Zealand recently, which would seem to be a good fit. They have an aggressive energetic sound combined with a good ear for a pop hook. The locals seem to be hyping the new Surf City and BailterSpace albums (justifiably so) with not quite so much attention being paid to these guys.

Enough jibber jabber..listen to this. No doubt you've heard this sort of thing before, but its still great!



I know I liked that...clever video, too.

If you liked that one, try Dirty Diver on for size.







In addition to Arch Hill Records or the Flyingout Webpage, you can download album at Bandcamp.

Cheers!