A Double CD...no, not the Swiss " Captain of Her Heart" band

These two records were short enough that I could put them both on one CD. Are they a stylistic match? Not at all, but they are both strong musical personalities who do things their way and not at the behest of some overpaid label jackass who hasn't a clue.

First is Paul Weller's "Wake Up the Nation." The man is an icon/legend in the UK but virtually unknown here in the States. I was never a fan of punk, so I didn't care for the Jam. They made three of England's most respected albums in the late 70's. I remember having the records in the WPRK catalog but I never put a needle to them on air. It was a few years later when the Style Council debuted that I came to respect Mr. Weller's talent. I mean, really, how the hell do you go from punk to R&B/soul/jazz?! SC had three great pop albums before hitting the creative wall, and then Weller went solo in the 90's and the rest is British musical history. The man can do it all, and "...Nation" is aural proof. Normally, I am not a fan of two minute songs, and 12 of the 16 tracks clock in at less than three minutes. But if you want a musical history lesson, this record is it. I have never heard so much music packed into such small sections. His Jam days are in a song or two, Style Council in a couple of others, there's Merseybeat, funk, those great instrumental tracks he's been known to do...just amazing. Damn shame we Americans aren't smart enough to understand the genius of Paul Weller.

We had the Shelby Lynne CD's in our Music 4 Less stores in the Country section all through the 90's, and they were OK as far as that genre of music goes. Then "I Am..." comes out in 2000, pulling a page from the Sheryl Crow handbook, doing her songs the way she wants to do them, and I AM FLOORED. I push and push this record in my stores with limited success, and I just can't fathom that no one seems to get it. Well, I was vindicated by her winning the Grammy for Best New Artist. Funny how you can be a "new artist" with six records, but "I Am" really was a new Shelby. I got to meet her during her tour for the followup record "Love, Shelby" and, deep sigh, I was smitten by the young vixen. But you could sense that she would kick your ass if you gave her a reason, and it's that mentality that she's put into her music ever since. "Tears, Lies & Alibis" just may be her finest record since "I Am", though many loved her last album that was in tribute to Dusty Springfield. Give me Shelby Lynne songs, and all ten here are hers. Poppy, jazzy, country, Americana, all rolled into one fine release. If country radio doesn't pick up the Jack Daniels inspired "Old #7" and make it a hit, well, they just don't deserve their jobs.

Widespread Panic "Dirty Side Down"

I was on the Panic bandwagon from the very start, picking up every recording released in the 20th century. Saw them live in a small venue in the late '90's, maybe 300 people, and was absolutely blown away. Even had a local college girl put her finger on my head for me to spin around under in jam band reverence/acceptance. But something changed in their studio releases this decade and I haven't made any additions to my WP collection. "Dirty..." is a perfect example. Out of the 12 tracks, five are keepers, five are so so, and two suck. It's a front-heavy release as the aforementioned five keepers happen within the first seven songs. Stuck firmly in the middle of the seven is a Vic Chestnutt song which features another Athens, GA, musical veteran, Anne Richmond Boston of the legendary Swimming Pool Q's. Obviously, it's one of the keepers, right? Nope, it sucked. So after much wrangling, I've decided to opt out of adding this record to my vault. I still haven't decided on retaining any of the keepers, either.

The Dead Weather "Sea of Cowards"

I never quite understood the success
of the White Stripes. Then the Raconteurs project raised an eyebrow, but no thanks. When I heard that Jack White had a new group called the Dead Weather last year, I did not even give it a chance. While attending a movie at the Enzian, a teaser for a documentary comes on, It Might Get Loud, with Jimmy Page, the Edge, and...Jack White? Wha, wha what? What were these two legendary guitarists doing in the same zip code as this White kid, much less a film? So after witnessing this unusual chemistry between these two "dads" and the "son", I felt like I owed the new Dead Weather record a shot. Upon first listen, I am stunned. Where the hell did this come from? The second spin took place on the way to Tennessee for Bonnaroo, and I'm excited to see them live. Please see the earlier post to get my take on them at Bonnaroo. And now when I play "Cowards", I hear so many old rock influences, in no particular order: Cream, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Big Brother Holding Co., Bloodrock...there's tape hiss, recording distortion, needles dropping onto vinyl...stop me. Wow. I had never heard of the Kills, and after a little aural research, had not missed much. But Alison Mosshart is a certified rock star singer in Dead Weather. Jack White doesn't even play guitar, he's on drums! Well, he came out from behind the kit for two songs at Bonnaroo and displayed truly inspired fret work. The regular six-stringer is some guy who has been credited to QOTSA, but I had never heard of him. But let me assure you he is no slouch, either. I could go on, but I'll stop now and say that "Sea of Cowards" is right now the best Rock record of 2010 so far. It is so good that the ol' Mad Rocker is even going to go backwards and get "Horehound" from last year. Those of you who know me realize that is a BIG Deal!

Dead Letter Circus "This is the Warning"

Been listening to this record since late May. Found this one on the Australian charts, sampled it, bought it, liked it. Went to #2 in their homeland but I don't think it is available yet in the States in a physical format. Certainly a rock record, at times reminding me of Dredg, Muse, People In Planes, maybe Radio 4, with the singer sounding like the vocalist from The Music or Evermore. I've read others hearing Radiohead and My Chemical Romance. So you should have enough references to judge for yourself whether it's worth a search for your tastes. The only downside to this album is that it suffers from a sameness from track to track on a complete listen. Here is a link to the new video out in Australia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2GAW87Jmw0 The band website asks their fans to request this from the video outlets so that there is one less Justin Bieber play coming from all the Stewie requests. Gotta love a band who enjoys "Family Guy!"

Flaming Lips "Dark Side of the Moon"

As I mentioned in the Bonnaroo post, I just couldn't do a 1 A.M. concert to see this. I'm not a big Lips fan anyway, only owning one complete album (out of what, 26?), "Yoshimi...", which, for me, was atypical. They do put on a gaudy live show, and I've seen some video that confirms it. I'm sure the late night set was a sight to behold, especially on the many substances available to the audience. My friend Dennis made the show, anticipating the "Dark Side..." replay, but he had not heard the studio version. If he had, I believe he would have caught a few extra hours of shuteye. You see, he comes from the rather large camp of Pink Floyd purists who disdain attempts to cover their band and/or songs/albums (the same group who were horrified at the Scissor Sisters "Comfortably Numb"). But at least he gave the Lips the benefit of the doubt. They have been compared to Floyd, but we're talking 60's era Pink Floyd; A Saucerful of Secrets, not Wish You Were Here; Ummagumma, not Animals...so you see the conflict. Me? I think the record is good, a keeper. It's recognizable, yet different. "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Any Colour You Like" are the best remakes of the lot, with "Us and Them" getting the true PF sound. The Lips have received a lot of press and have been good about supporting the release, but somehow, I'm guessing they are growing tired of it, and they hope the video release will hurry up and hit the market so they can stop performing it.

Black Kids @ The Social 7/1/10

No, the picture is not the Social...that would look like an old comedy club shot. Scored this one from MTV2. Anyway, I was excited to see that the Kids had a new record in the can and was headed into Orlando for the first stop of a 7-date warm up FL tour. Not well attended in my mind, but they are much more popular overseas than here. Got there just as the opening band started, and within a song or two, started looking around for the cast of Saturday Night Live, thinking this had to be a rave up of those Justin Timberlake videos they've done. Nope. Just a laughable presentation of prerecorded dance pop. Well, the drummer and bassist played live but 90% of the remainder was tracked or AutoTuned. Damn, I could have jumped up there and sang through a computer! Finally the Kids hit the stage with real instruments and sounded quite good. The gathered crowd of approx. 200 was all over the Partie Traumatic tracks, and they worked really well live. As for the three new tracks played, well, let's hope there isn't a sophomore slump. I'll reserve judgement after hearing the new record a few times, whenever that happens. If you are unfamiliar with their sound, it is unapologetic dance pop music that will put a smile on your face if you are a fan of the B-52's, Human League, Thompson Twins, etc.

Reggie Youngblood's vocals recall Paul Hyde from the Payolas from that same decade, though there is NO WAY this kid from Jacksonville would know who that is, and probably most of you reading this, too! Here is their TV debut on Letterman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzaSM0Ac1BQ&feature=related

Anyway, if I had paid the $12 or $15 ticket price (thanks, WPRK) I would have been upset at the short 50 minute set. But it was an all ages show so most of the crowd had the parentals spring for it and their colas. No wonder the bartender poured me heavy Tanqueray and tonics...

Four Hours @ Bonnaroo 2010

Honestly, I didn't think much of this year's lineup. Truly, there were only five bands I had any desire at all to see. The main reason I was even in Dullahoma in the first place was to visit my parents, not the festival. It just so happened that the timing was right and I had committed to helping Dennis and I keep my promises. The first band I had an interest in seeing was Blitzen Trapper, and I just finished my first spin of their new album. Lo, they were scheduled on the first night while I was busy inhaling carbon monoxide at the gate. One patron asked me who to see once they got inside, and BT was my suggestion. They promised to give them my love. Cool. On Friday, I had considered the midnight performance of the infamous Flaming Lips and their version of "Dark Side of the Moon", but earlier in the day I found out the main stage was running an hour behind, and I'm just not that young anymore. So Saturday was it, as the other three bands I wanted to see were scheduled perfectly for me to do in a few hours.


Coordinating with Dennis, I acquired a resident access pass so I could get to the location of their great setup. Turning off the main highway, I was greeted by a fleet of motorcycle State Troopers, all lined up with somewhere to go, just not yet. Weird. Passing through two check points (a resident pass with Florida plates..."of course, I live here!"), I follow the directions down the country road to literally 100 feet of a gate to the festival. But I have to wait for a limo and some county sheriff vehicles to pass before I can turn in. Was that Norah Jones in that limousine? Turns out it was, as our hookup location actually adjoined the VIP access road and gate! Sweet! Could have literally hopped the fence and been on Bonnaroo property. I was greeted by the sign in the picture above (OK, so there is a misspelled word; it was the spirit I found enlightening). The owners had been looking for some rural property a few years earlier when they found the current location and told the real estate agent they liked it. In a fit of open disclosure, the agent said she needed to inform them that the property backed up to the big music festival that had been in the news. Obviously, it had been a deal-breaker more than once for her. "Sold!" So every year since, these people invite close friends to stay with them and enjoy Bonnaroo in a truly local fashion. Very nice.


So Dennis and I make the fifty yard walk to the gate...gotta love it...and we're off to my first Bonnaroo. Mumford & Sons was the first stop, this picture taken just as we walked up. Decent crowd for a band I did not figure many to be aware of. Those who were there were certainly in the know, singing along loudly through some of the selections from Sigh No More, making the ol' Mad Rocker very happy. Trotting out for the finale was the Old Crow Medicine Show and Gillian Welch, and the crowd absolutely exploded when they finished the set, screaming for more. But the boys had used their allotted time, and at Bonnaroo, if your set is 5 - 6:15 and you want to do an encore, then you'd better stop at 6 so the crowd can call you back and be done at 6:15 as the program states. Mumford & Sons obviously won over many in the crowd as their album has broken the Top 100 here in the States. Again, a happy Mad Rocker.

Next to the main stage and the Dead Weather. I'm not going to get too carried away on this post since I have the new record ready for comment and will do so in the next posting, but do yourself a huge favor and go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127088792 and listen to their set, and Mumford & Sons set as well, for that matter. Or better yet, even though it's only one song, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHMt-2bpxU for a visual sample. Alison Mosshart looks like a skinny Siouxsie Sue and, boys and girls, that's what a "Rock Star performance" is all about. I looked at Dennis about twenty minutes into the set and I told him, "I want to do her right now, sweat and all, right there on the stage." Dirty, nasty Rock 'N Roll is still alive and well and living in the Dead Weather.

 

We then made quite the musical shift from loud to soft, and crowd size from thousands to eighty, as we stepped under the Cafe Where? tent for the Stone siblings.
With Weezer blaring away on the second stage, it was difficult to grasp the subtleties of the Stones from the edge of the tent, so I eased into the middle where I captured this song...

I hope they get some recognition in the States. Probably their first trip to America, but they were used to the Aussie heat so temps in the mid-90's didn't phase them. After they finished, Dennis and I meandered for a while, watching the crowd build in anticipation of Stevie Wonder. Had to be over thirty minutes later before we decided to bail, and as we walked past the Cafe tent, Julia was still there signing CD's and talking to a few fans. I stopped to have a word but opted out as Mr. Wonder cranked up.
Please people, if you like singer/songwriter music, support these kids. They deserve it.

And that was it for my Bonnaroo experience.