Don’t miss your chance to see Night Beats if you’re on the west coast. They’re hitting it hard through November and touring with Mystery Lights – a band I’ve been meaning to check out for a couple weeks now.
The Night Beats are killing it right now, and I’ve yet to see them put on a bad show. They are well worth your time and money.
Keep your mind open.
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Guitar / rock legend Jimmy Page has remastered the excellent double album The Complete BBC Sessions. The album drops tomorrow (September 16th) and has eight new tracks previously unreleased. The original BBC sessions album was released in 1997 as a two-disc set, but this newest edition will be three discs and contain rare versions of “You Shook Me,” “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” “Sunshine Woman,” “Communication Breakdown,” and “Dazed and Confused.” There’s also a 48-page book in the deluxe edition.
In even better news, Page has announced that he has a new album in the works. Look for it next year.
Keep your mind open.
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Electro duo Phantogram are set to release their third album, appropriately titled Three, on October 7th. The first single, “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore,” is a dark track about a relationship that’s lost its fire. I don’t know if the album cover image reflects that lost passion or a rekindled one, but Three will probably be one of the kinkiest records of the year. Just watch the video for “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” if you don’t believe me.
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Beck‘s new album still doesn’t have an official title, but it does have a release date – October 21st. Beck has said in interviews that the new record is inspired by some of his recent live performances, and two of the first tracks released, “Wow” and “Dreams,” are lively cuts that portend a return to Beck’s upbeat funk records like Midnite Vultures and Odelay.
Keep your mind open.
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I love a good instrumental, and Gravel Drag‘s (Chris Bowyer – bass, Ben McKinney – drums, Steve McKinney – guitar) Sly Fox EP has four of them. All are tight stoner rock tracks that each clock in under four minutes. Gravel Drag doesn’t have time for spacing out for long stretches. They’re too busy making hard-hitting swamp metal.
“War Beast” sounds like Helmet and Sleep met in a dark alley and got into a fight. Ben McKinney’s drums remind me of classic Helmet fills and Steve McKinney and Chris Bowyer supply the heavy Sleep-like riffs.
“The Legend of Sly Fox” is peppier than “War Beast,” but it’s no less heavy. I love how crisp Ben McKinney’s snare is in this. “KnockoutKing” is a knockout. Loud, squelching guitar, one-two punch combo bass, and mosh pit drums all equal a great tune.
The closer is “Radio Curse,” and I wonder if the title refers to the lack of radio play for instrumental riff rock like this. Bowyer channels his inner Peter Hook with his bass at first and then drops stuff heavier than Hook ever did in Joy Division.
It’s a shame this is only a four-song EP because it’s heavy enough to be a full album. An LP from these guys would probably have the mass of a dwarf star.
Keep your mind open.
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Consisting of two members of Morphine (one of my top 5 bands of all time) – Dana Colley (saxophones, vocals) and Jerome Deupree (drums) – and their pal Jeremy Lyons (vocals, guitar, bass, banjo, and more), Vapors of Morphine are reclaiming low rock and bringing it back when we need it most in this time of 24-hour news cycle cacophony.
A New Low opens with a short instrumental and then a traditional Tuareg song, “Renoveau / Daman N’Diaye” (and a second version of it near the end of the record). The inclusion of Tuareg music on this (with vocals by Boubacar Diabate) is a great choice and shows the band’s love for low-fi world music as well.
Their new version of Morphine’s “Shiela” is great, and slightly darker than the original. “Baby’s on Fire” has some of Colley’s best electric saxophone work. I still don’t know how he gets those sounds out of those things. Their take on Morphine’s “The Other Side” turns it from a song of lament and regret to one of paranoia.
Dana Colley often plays two saxophones (one tenor, one baritone) at once, but it sounds like he’s playing four on “Sombre Reptiles.” “If” is a great example of low rock as Lyons sings, “If the ocean was whiskey or full of gin, would you lead me away or push me in?” and Deupree drums are cooly reverbed and Colley’s saxophones do a creepy crawl through your stereo.
“Red Apple Juice” is an old Appalachian standard, and the band does a great job with it, turning it into a near goth-country song with Lyons’ banjo leading the way.
Colley sings leads on “Souvenir,” another great Morphine track. He also goes blissfully bonkers with his saxophone work on it by the end. “Rowdy Blues” reminds me of Treat Her Right tracks, which is always a good thing (and a natural progression since THR’s Mark Sandman went on to form Morphine with Colley and Deupree).
The album ends with the instrumental “Interstellar Overdrive,” in which Dana Colley plays a spaceship. The track is proof that the band could go full-blown psychedelic if they wanted.
A New Low is proof that low rock has returned and is just as good as it’s always been.
Keep your mind open.
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Thanks to all who listened to my last WSND show of summer 2016. I should be back on the airwaves Wednesday nights for the first half of Christmas break and then Sundays in the second half. Here’s my set list from last night:
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I’m a big fan of The Police. They were the first band I loved as a kid, and the first band who made me appreciate their craftsmanship. Plus, everyone forgets they were punks at the outset who played songs about their dickweed landlord, working dead-end jobs, and shagging blow-up dolls.
So I was intrigued when I learned Police frontman Sting is releasing his first rock / pop record, 57th and 9th, in a decade. Producer Martin Kierszenbaum claims Sting hasn’t “rocked like this since Synchronicity.”
The album drops on November 11th, and the deluxe editions come with three bonus tracks – one of which is a live version of the punk Police classic “Next to You.”
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Located in the Irvington area of Indianapolis, Irvington Vinyl / Bookmama’s (9 Johnson Avenue) is an impressive store on a winding side street that is easy to miss but worth your time to seek.
The place is two store fronts full of books and music. The books range from new fiction to classics, naturally, but they have plenty of collectibles and manager / owner Kathleen Angelone was knowledgable about new titles and what to read if you liked certain books. She and a customer were having a lively discussion on new fiction when I was in the store.
I was there for the music, and I had limited time, so I didn’t get to browse the books as much as I’d like. There was plenty of music to buy. The majority of it is on vinyl (go figure with a name like Irvington Vinyl), and includes collectible stuff from obscure Indiana bands.
As if all this stuff isn’t enough for you, just head down these stairs…
…and you’ll find a basement full of vinyl records, 8-track tapes, and cassettes.
It’s a crate digger’s dream. I scored a Nine Inch Nails EP, L7’s Smell the Magic, and an excellent double-CD compilation of early Indiana new wave and punk bands (review coming soon) there. Give yourself plenty of time to browse when you go there. You won’t regret it.
Keep your mind open.
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File this under: Best News You’ve Heard Today.
Avant-garde psych-lounge master Gary Wilson is releasing a Christmas album three days before Halloween. It features 14 tracks of Wilson’s take on the holiday season. The titles reflect a lot of Wilson’s favorite themes – love (“A Christmas Tree for Two”), breakups (“Santa Claus Is Coming to My Lonely Town”), desire (“A Date for New Year’s Eve”), the town of Endicott (“It’s Snowing in Endicott”), and the mysterious women he references on his albums (“Cindy Wants to Cry”).
This will probably be my go-to gift for many people on my Christmas list this year. Be sure to put it on yours.
Keep your mind open.
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