Rock Goddesses Part 1: Siouxsie Sioux June 27, 2007

I was thinking about women in rock the other day…there are so many amazing women in music. After seeing the doubleheader of Midnight Movies and The Raveonettes earlier this month, I was really in awe of the power of women onstage especially. Therefore, I thought I’d do a few pieces on the women that have most amazed me.

Number one is Siouxsie Sioux. Without anyone even coming close. I did get to see her at Lollapalooza way back when, and it was one of those moments I will never forget. She’s insanely gorgeous in such a strange way…I had posters of her in high school and wore my Siouxsie tshirt for about 10 years. Not only is the woman gorgeous, she has the most incredible style that no one can come close to imitating. I’ve never seen anyone that actually looked good with armpit hair but she did. She looked her best ever in the video for The Passenger though…like a gothic Louise Brooks. Budgie isn’t bad either now that I think about it.

Recommended songs:

Dear Prudence (her Beatles cover in case you live in a cave)

Hong Kong Garden

Spellbound (my favorite of all her work)

You can listen to all three of these on Amazon actually…

Thou Shalt Not Use Poetry, Art or Music to Get into Girls’ Pants June 26, 2007

 …Use It to Get into Their Heads

I’ve referenced this song before (in a video way down below) but it’s worth mentioning further. If you’ve not heard this song, go listen. It’s extremely quality stuff.

That’s it really.

Ladytron, 1972 June 26, 2007

A video that perfectly captures why much of today’s music is trash. There are just some bands you will never be even remotely as good as, and Roxy Music is one of them.

read more | digg story

How I Like My Rock Stars June 25, 2007

There was a nice article in Spin (I think it was) about how boring many of today’s rock stars are. Not sure if you heard about Iggy Pop’s antics at the Glastonbury Music Festival, but it’s not the kind of thing you see Celine Dion doing (not that she’s a rock star, God forbid, but you get my drift.) Iggy apparently did a bit of stage diving and inviting people up onto the stage and chaos ensued, as it does in these situations. However, that’s what they fucking SHOULD do. Who wants their rock stars to be the boring, sober, cleancut neighbors next door?

Not to downplay the talent of Pete Doherty in any way, but he’s exactly what I want in a rock star in terms of his personal life. Gorgeous supermodel girlfriend, drug issues, a very nice hat…I could go on all day. He doesn’t strike me as someone who’s going to come offstage and do anything tame. We all lament these stars who do drugs, go to rehab, get arrested for drunk driving, and generally act like idiots but when they have musical talent I’m willing to overlook it on some level. That isn’t to say I want them living next door to me though. I enjoy my chaos at a distance, preferably with loud guitars and maybe some smashed instruments.

The photo of The Clash’s Paul Simonon smashing his guitar is the absolute defining image for the kind of rock and roll that I want. It perfectly conveys the out of control attitude that I want in my bands. Not all of them though…I really don’t think I would have cared to see ABC smashing their synthesizers or Adam Ant shooting up onstage in all his makeup. That would just be disturbing. However, I think many bands today could get away with a smash here or there provided nothing hit me in the audience. I saw The Church back in the late 1980s and Marty Wilson-Piper threw his guitar to the side of the stage, where it seemed that someone was expecting this. Not to be outdone, lead singer Steve Kilby threw his bass and you just heard a loud crash. That was pretty rock and roll I thought.

Wire Cover June 20, 2007

To add to the good covers, here’s fIREHOSE doing a cover of Wire’s Mannequin…

Looking For A Few Good New Videos Are You? June 20, 2007

OK since I am renowned for hating new bands, I thought I’d remedy that with a few videos of new(ish) videos that I think are just fantastic. Maybe you’ve heard of these guys, maybe not…check them out though.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

LCD Soundsystem (not the best quality audio but still a fine piece)

Babyshambles

Stellastarr*

More and More Covers–Damn You All June 18, 2007

…thanks for all of you who pointed out all the good covers I missed. Here are a few more from my vault.

1. My Boyfriend’s Back (Raveonettes cover of The Angels)

2.  Hazy Shade of Winter (The Bangles cover of Simon and Garfunkel)

3. Mrs. Robinson (Lemonheads cover of Simon and Garfunkel)

4. Tainted Love (Soft Cell cover of Gloria Jones)

5. I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow cover of The Strangeloves

Sparklehorse Likes Me (I Think) June 18, 2007

I saw Sparklehorse live a few months back and never got the chance to write anything about them. I did, however, stalk Mark Linkous (the lead singer) on MySpace for a bit and he was quite nice and responsive so I think we’re close to hanging out and getting coffee together. OK maybe not but I can dream. Anyway, we were right up front for the show and it was utterly fantastic. Johnny Hott, whom I have mentioned before in a House of Freaks post, drummed like Clem Burke on a meth bender (that’s good in case you can’t tell.) The only downside was that there was some insanely drunk/high hippie wandering around up front bumping into everyone. Oh, and there were some idiotic frat boys who kept cursing loudly and yelling at the band which was fairly obnoxious since Hott’s little girl was dancing onstage with them for most of the show.

OK enough about the show–it was good and that’s the point. Until recently, Sparklehorse had the distinction of being the band of “the last cd I bought way back in 2001″ but I broke down and purchased a few more recently. They are one of those bands whose newest release I get really excited about. Many times you’re seriously disappointed but so far (knock on wood) I have never been even remotely let down by their work. They can change lineups and sound totally different but they still sound amazing. They actually have a song featured in a Volvo ad which is both strange and somewhat comforting since it makes me think that at least someonewith good taste is handling these bits of marketing.

Here’s a video you might like…this song never gets old.

The Best Band You’ve Never Heard Of June 15, 2007

Or maybe you have…it’s House of Freaks.

House of Freaks was formed by the late Bryan Harvey and the still-with-us Johnny Hott, way back in the 80s when many of you weren’t born. I don’t think I can successfully categorize their sound without getting trite though, unfortunately. If you do any research on them, you’ll read the horrific stories about Bryan’s family being murdered a few years back–my advice is to skip over that stuff because I can assure you, it will depress the hell out of you. His family’s murder should not be what’s remembered…the man created some of the best tracks I’ve ever heard.

They didn’t put out a huge amount of records, but they did put out amazing ones. My favorite album is “Tantilla”, which I also think has the best lyrics overall of any album on the planet. It’s also on my top 10 albums of all time list (which I have yet to share and you’ll thank me most likely Gene.) The band drew comparisons to tons of other bands, none of which I would really agree with though since I think they truly had a unique sound. I could say something like this though…if you like Tom Waits, religious metaphor without the guilt, gothic Southern novels, and heat, you’ll like them.

I actually got into Sparklehorse through looking for House of Freaks information online. Johnny Hott is currently playing with Sparklehorse and I had the pleasure of meeting him a few months back when they played at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. He has a gorgeous child and he was an amazingly unpretentious and likeable man, not to mention a fantastic drummer. Seeing him play was the highlight of the show for me.

I’m linking you to a video so please take a look…you can still get their records in many places so check them out.

Under the Covers June 15, 2007

As much as I love a good original song, I also really love to hear how a band reinvents someone else’s music. Here are my picks for the top ten covers (by bands that I like of course)…feel free to add. Also anyone know who originally did “Jet Boy Jet Girl” –conflicting results say Chron Gen or The Damned.

1. Honky Tonk Women (Pogues cover of The Rolling Stones)

2. Head On (Pixies cover of The Jesus and Mary Chain)

3. This Town Isn’t Big Enough (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover of Sparks)

4. Picture Book (Yo La Tengo cover of The Kinks–heard in concert. I’d love to get a copy of this.)

5. Victoria (The Fall cover of The Kinks)

6. Down in the Park (Marilyn Manson cover of Gary Numan)

7. Hounds of Love (The Futureheads cover of Kate Bush)

8. Alone Again Or (The Damned cover of Love)

9. Perfect Day (Duran Duran (yeah really) cover of Lou Reed

10. All Tomorrow’s Parties (Japan cover of The Velvet Underground)

*My apologies if any of these are incorrect–I have had a whole lot of coffee.