First off, let me say that the state of rock n roll is just fine. Many folks I talk to somewhat lament the lack of hard rocking bands. They mention the Foo Fighters as the only one left standing. Bands like fun and Imagine Dragons and MGMT and Lorde and the plethora of "x" the "y" bands dominate the charts. Looking at the current Billboard Top 0 in Rock, the only two bands I think qualify are Pearl Jam and to a much-lesser-extent The Arctic Monkeys. The rest of these acts are not rock acts. They are pop acts.
What these folks are talking about is the lack of rock acts on the radio. There is a TON of great guitar-driven music out there. Right now I am listening to a record by two young women from California called DeapVally. It's bluesy, gritty, sloppy rock like The White Stripes and The Black Keys. It's great ROCK music. And I will bet you haven't heard of it! LOSER!
HA! I jest. That's not your fault at all. It simply involves seeking it out. You are not going to hear Deap Vally, or any of the bands on my top 10 list (commencing later today), on the radio. If you get exposed to them it's going to be through your own efforts, your own searching them out. There are ton's of places to find it, especially on the internet. There are plenty of websites to scour. I know, I am scouring them!!
Radio is a wasteland. There are outliers sure but for the most part big city radio is a dumping ground for the lowest common denominator. That's fine. Radio exists to make money for the people in charge. Being on the cusp of up and coming rock n roll is not a money-making opportunity. I think there is a great opportunity for satellite radio to fill this role but even Sirius and XM shy away from it. Little Steven's Underground Garage is a station I often turn to in the car, but the ratio of old-to-new is about 75-25. I really wish it would switch because there are so many great bands out there to be heard.
From yesterday's blog I think we are going to see that happening amongst less and less people. Music has become a background event for the majority of folks and their desire to spend time with music and only music is dwindling rapidly.
There's a line in Almost Famous that I love. One of the band-aids says it to Cameron Crowe's stand-in near the end, as they watch the new girls arrive backstage. She says "They don't even know what it is to be fan. Y'know? To love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts."
I think that line says a ton about the state of music today. Bands are not followed, admired, or to use a stupid word worshiped like they once were. You can argue and say well look at Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift or Beyonce. They are huge!! But with their fans I do not believe the music is central. The image is central. The vibe, the party, the fact that it blends into the background of the gathering. That is where the connection is made. The song itself is secondary to the individual swirls it is the soundtrack to. Nobody lights a candle and sits in the dark and sees their future when they listen to Justin Bieber.
All that said...all that pessimism...and I am convinced that rock n roll at its core is fine. Big labels and record producers and svengalis are not needed anymore to make rock happen. It is happening at a local level with the amazing bands I have met and played with here in DC. It is happening on the internet, as bands are able to get their music out to the people who are searching it out. There is so much music out there it it difficult to stand-out these days. And like at the birth of rock n roll and in its heyday, a great band needs a lot of talent and a basket of great songs and they need a shitload of luck. That's the way it has always been and that is what makes it so cool.
Later today I am going to start my countdown of my top 10 favorite records of 2013. I'll do a post for each album in turn. There will be a bunch of metal records, there will be some garage rock records, there will be some mellow stuff for the quiet times. What I hope most is that the list, along with my usual ramblings, inspire you to check these bands out. I think they are worth the time you can give them.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Passivity and Music
I have mentioned before how much I appreciate the music writing of Steven Hyden. I don't necessarily like all the same things he does, but I do find unsurprising congruence in our tastes. His latest submission for Grantland is about the failure of music in 2013 to take-off, or maybe re-take-off is a better way to put it.
At one point in his article, in the context of troubles within the record industry, Mr Hyden quotes a Forrester Research analyst named James McQuivey from a New York Times piece: "Music is an accompaniment, to add to your jog, your workday, your prep in the kitchen...But it's not something you're eager to pay for if you don't have to." Mr. Hyden asks his reader if it depresses them as it depresses him. I would not say it depresses me; my parents passing away, the plight of children in Syria, those things depress me. But the idea of a major shift not just in music but in music listening seems to be happening.
Life, compared to 30 years, is much more distracting. The pace of life seems much more frantic. I want to be careful to not verge into curmudgeon territory, but even in high school I do not recall my teen-age life being as filled. Listening to music has an ability to be an extremely passive or an extremely active endeavor. Much more so than other media. You can't read a book in the background. You can't go to the movies and half watch it, well I guess you can but you don't get anything out of it. TV comes close, many people have the TV on at night to help them fall asleep. My wife is expert at this, but I find myself unable to not pay attention if there is any semblance of plot.
Music is both passive and active. People can switch from one to the other on the fly. But like books and TV and movies, appreciation of music comes only from attentiveness. In another Grantland piece, Ernest Baker discusses the new Beyonce record and his reaction to it and passive versus active listening and that once he actively listened it the record changed for him.
One of my favorite activities is to lay on the couch with the lights out, put a record on the hi-fi, slip on the headphones, and just listen. Listen intently to every note, every fill, every nuance of the record. The immerse myself in it. I've written before that I think vinyl is the best way to do this because it captures the essence of the music better than any other medium. Digital and the compression that comes with that fails to capture that. I don't want to drift into metaphysical mumbo-jumbo but good music can be a transcendental experience and that is only accomplished through immersion.
But who has time for that anymore!!! Life beckons! Doing this or that. Going here and there. Tapping away on a smartphone. There are distractions everywhere. I have friends that do SOMETHING every single night. I can't fathom that. Just from a shear exhaustion level. For me, I cannot exist without down-time. I enjoy spending quiet time with my wife, with my records, with my guitar, with a book, with just myself. My wife and I went to the mall this morning. I knew my iPhone was low on juice so I planned to charge it in the car. Except I and taken the charger out of the car (it's probably in the other car). I expressed dimly and outrage! What would I do without my phone. But then I decided that I would go without. I would find a way to endure a couple hours without my lifeline. And you know what, I survived just fine without it. Waiting outside the stores at the mall I just watched people, looked around, thought things. A constant stream of information was not necessitated in order to pass the time. As I sat down waiting for my wife and her search for final gifts, I sat in a chair and watched a young woman talk on her iPhone while texting with her BlackBerry. During the call and after the call her eyes never left the BlackBerry, her fingers never stopped typing. I am in no way judging that activity, but I find it the perfect representation of modern living.
But to be that tethered, to have that much access, how is there time, how is there opportunity to appreciate a piece of music? I started putting together my favorites-of-the-year list. One record that was on the cusp of falling off the top 10 list I gave a listen to a few nights ago. And in listening through the headphones it was revelatory, it impacted me in a way listening at work or while typing on a keyboard or surfing the web never touched me. By listening to it closely and deeply, it resonated. It was like magic, it was a fantastically enjoyable experience to hear and appreciate the creation within those grooves. I think less folks have that experience anymore nowadays. It scares me only in that music could suffer for it. That bands will no longer be around to create this.
Stay tuned for part 2! Steve's thoughts on the future of rock and roll!
At one point in his article, in the context of troubles within the record industry, Mr Hyden quotes a Forrester Research analyst named James McQuivey from a New York Times piece: "Music is an accompaniment, to add to your jog, your workday, your prep in the kitchen...But it's not something you're eager to pay for if you don't have to." Mr. Hyden asks his reader if it depresses them as it depresses him. I would not say it depresses me; my parents passing away, the plight of children in Syria, those things depress me. But the idea of a major shift not just in music but in music listening seems to be happening.
Life, compared to 30 years, is much more distracting. The pace of life seems much more frantic. I want to be careful to not verge into curmudgeon territory, but even in high school I do not recall my teen-age life being as filled. Listening to music has an ability to be an extremely passive or an extremely active endeavor. Much more so than other media. You can't read a book in the background. You can't go to the movies and half watch it, well I guess you can but you don't get anything out of it. TV comes close, many people have the TV on at night to help them fall asleep. My wife is expert at this, but I find myself unable to not pay attention if there is any semblance of plot.
Music is both passive and active. People can switch from one to the other on the fly. But like books and TV and movies, appreciation of music comes only from attentiveness. In another Grantland piece, Ernest Baker discusses the new Beyonce record and his reaction to it and passive versus active listening and that once he actively listened it the record changed for him.
One of my favorite activities is to lay on the couch with the lights out, put a record on the hi-fi, slip on the headphones, and just listen. Listen intently to every note, every fill, every nuance of the record. The immerse myself in it. I've written before that I think vinyl is the best way to do this because it captures the essence of the music better than any other medium. Digital and the compression that comes with that fails to capture that. I don't want to drift into metaphysical mumbo-jumbo but good music can be a transcendental experience and that is only accomplished through immersion.
But who has time for that anymore!!! Life beckons! Doing this or that. Going here and there. Tapping away on a smartphone. There are distractions everywhere. I have friends that do SOMETHING every single night. I can't fathom that. Just from a shear exhaustion level. For me, I cannot exist without down-time. I enjoy spending quiet time with my wife, with my records, with my guitar, with a book, with just myself. My wife and I went to the mall this morning. I knew my iPhone was low on juice so I planned to charge it in the car. Except I and taken the charger out of the car (it's probably in the other car). I expressed dimly and outrage! What would I do without my phone. But then I decided that I would go without. I would find a way to endure a couple hours without my lifeline. And you know what, I survived just fine without it. Waiting outside the stores at the mall I just watched people, looked around, thought things. A constant stream of information was not necessitated in order to pass the time. As I sat down waiting for my wife and her search for final gifts, I sat in a chair and watched a young woman talk on her iPhone while texting with her BlackBerry. During the call and after the call her eyes never left the BlackBerry, her fingers never stopped typing. I am in no way judging that activity, but I find it the perfect representation of modern living.
But to be that tethered, to have that much access, how is there time, how is there opportunity to appreciate a piece of music? I started putting together my favorites-of-the-year list. One record that was on the cusp of falling off the top 10 list I gave a listen to a few nights ago. And in listening through the headphones it was revelatory, it impacted me in a way listening at work or while typing on a keyboard or surfing the web never touched me. By listening to it closely and deeply, it resonated. It was like magic, it was a fantastically enjoyable experience to hear and appreciate the creation within those grooves. I think less folks have that experience anymore nowadays. It scares me only in that music could suffer for it. That bands will no longer be around to create this.
Stay tuned for part 2! Steve's thoughts on the future of rock and roll!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Laziness
Earlier today I found myself thinking about all the shows I did not go to this year. Shows I told myself I should go to, shows that I would go to. But then at the moment of truth I decided nah I'll just stay home because going out is a pain in the rear.
I admit going into DC is a bit of a pain in the ass. I live outside the city but not terribly far. On a good night it takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to get downtown. Parking is a big issue. The city seems to have made it a real chore to park. I went to an Old 97s show earlier this year and got a ticket for parking in the neighborhood; I hadn't noticed that the zones had been adjusted so you couldn't park on them at all. This is a relatively recent happening. Same thing for seeing my friends in Bells and Hunters do a gig at Velvet Lounge; I parked on Georgia Avenue by the Howard University hospital and got a ticket because it was a street-cleaning time. Down around the 930 Club and DC9 and the Velvet Lounge there aren't any parking garages. Over by The Black Cat there is one garage. On H St by the rock and roll hotel there is parking in the neighborhood but it can be tough to find if you get there too late.
Metro isn't an option. First, it's kind of far from my house. By the time I drive there and park I could be damn near downtown. Second, it isn't like New York where it runs all night. By midnight it's closed, and although shows have started to get finished earlier to accommodate that I still don't like chancing it or leaving a show early.
When I lived in the city I would just take the Metro to the show and then take a cab home. That was awesome. When I saw Elliott Smith play I was living in Van Ness, so before going to the show with a bunch of friends I had them all over for dinner. Good times, man. A cab ride from downtown to my house now would cost about $50. Ack!
That part is really just lazy ass loser talk. There's nothing like seeing a band bring it on stage. The energy I get after a show is always worth the annoyance and near dread I feel about actually going. Once I get there it's awesome and fun, but like going to the gym the hardest thing is often getting off the couch.
But....another problem rears it head. I am old. And I have a job. And for said job I get up at 5:15am. I am not required to get up at 5:15am but I am one of the weirdos who likes getting one early. If I get in late I feel like I am already behind and playing catch up. So even though once I get to a show where I love it and enjoy it, I still am likely not going to get home until well after midnight. Which means I have, after getting home and showering and finally coming down off the energy of the show, maybe 3 hours of sleep. And like I said, I am old now. Not Methuselah old but old enough where only getting a couple hours a sleep is hard to recover from.
That's also a cop out. I am not that old. It isn't that difficult to find a split to park. Those shouldn't be excuses for not going out to see the bands I love. If I hadn't been a wuss I could have seen Pelican, High On Fire with Kvelertak (!!!!!), True Widow, Surfer Blood, Frontier Ruckus, Blitzen Trapper, Steven Wilson. And those are the ones off the top of my head.
So for this coming year I already have on my calendar Grant Lee-Phillips, Band Of Horses, Josh Ritter, The Men, Neil Finn. So, dear friends, if you see me blogging about a new record and saying how I plan on seeing them this coming so-and-so, do me a favor and prod me so I don't act like a big baby. Rock on!
I admit going into DC is a bit of a pain in the ass. I live outside the city but not terribly far. On a good night it takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to get downtown. Parking is a big issue. The city seems to have made it a real chore to park. I went to an Old 97s show earlier this year and got a ticket for parking in the neighborhood; I hadn't noticed that the zones had been adjusted so you couldn't park on them at all. This is a relatively recent happening. Same thing for seeing my friends in Bells and Hunters do a gig at Velvet Lounge; I parked on Georgia Avenue by the Howard University hospital and got a ticket because it was a street-cleaning time. Down around the 930 Club and DC9 and the Velvet Lounge there aren't any parking garages. Over by The Black Cat there is one garage. On H St by the rock and roll hotel there is parking in the neighborhood but it can be tough to find if you get there too late.
Metro isn't an option. First, it's kind of far from my house. By the time I drive there and park I could be damn near downtown. Second, it isn't like New York where it runs all night. By midnight it's closed, and although shows have started to get finished earlier to accommodate that I still don't like chancing it or leaving a show early.
When I lived in the city I would just take the Metro to the show and then take a cab home. That was awesome. When I saw Elliott Smith play I was living in Van Ness, so before going to the show with a bunch of friends I had them all over for dinner. Good times, man. A cab ride from downtown to my house now would cost about $50. Ack!
That part is really just lazy ass loser talk. There's nothing like seeing a band bring it on stage. The energy I get after a show is always worth the annoyance and near dread I feel about actually going. Once I get there it's awesome and fun, but like going to the gym the hardest thing is often getting off the couch.
But....another problem rears it head. I am old. And I have a job. And for said job I get up at 5:15am. I am not required to get up at 5:15am but I am one of the weirdos who likes getting one early. If I get in late I feel like I am already behind and playing catch up. So even though once I get to a show where I love it and enjoy it, I still am likely not going to get home until well after midnight. Which means I have, after getting home and showering and finally coming down off the energy of the show, maybe 3 hours of sleep. And like I said, I am old now. Not Methuselah old but old enough where only getting a couple hours a sleep is hard to recover from.
That's also a cop out. I am not that old. It isn't that difficult to find a split to park. Those shouldn't be excuses for not going out to see the bands I love. If I hadn't been a wuss I could have seen Pelican, High On Fire with Kvelertak (!!!!!), True Widow, Surfer Blood, Frontier Ruckus, Blitzen Trapper, Steven Wilson. And those are the ones off the top of my head.
So for this coming year I already have on my calendar Grant Lee-Phillips, Band Of Horses, Josh Ritter, The Men, Neil Finn. So, dear friends, if you see me blogging about a new record and saying how I plan on seeing them this coming so-and-so, do me a favor and prod me so I don't act like a big baby. Rock on!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Ripples Never Come Back
My friend Erik commented about my picking up The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway on vinyl and how it was getting a lot of play on his iPod. That makes sense. Erik is a helluva a keyboard player and Lamb is very much a keyboard record. Sunday night I turned off the lights, put on the good headphones, lit a candle and gave it a full attention listen. It really is a spectacular record. Take "The Carpet Crawlers":
Genesis is a fascinating band in terms of evolution. I can't think of band that evolved as organically as Genesis. With Gabriel at the fore they started as a very British art band, culminating in his masterpiece. He left the band because he felt the band structure couldn't offer him anything more; that he needed to go in different directions. Most of us have seen the Behind The Music and before long Genesis found their singer behind the kit. Happily, the split was amicable.
And the split changed the band, but it did so over time. The first post-Gabriel record, A Trick of The Tail is in many ways a miracle in how good it is. Songs like "Dance On A Volcano" and "Squonk" and "Entangled" and "Ripples" are fantastic. The follow-up to that Wind and Wuthering is not as good to me, at least I don't enjoy it as much. At this point guitarist Steve Hackett left for similar reasons to Gabriel, feeling confined within the band and wanting to move on to other things.
How many bands could lose their singer and guitarist and replace them not by hiring new people but by assuming the role internally? I can't think of any. And not only did they continue, then continued to make great music. And Then There Were Three was the first as a trio and is outstanding. "Burning Rope" is one of their best songs; "Snowbound" and "Undertow" and album opener "Down and Out" are all exceptional. The last song on the record hinted at where they would go: "Follow You Follow Me."
The next record, Duke, is one of my most favorite records of all time. And it's another miracle in plastic in how good it is. It's without a doubt more radio friendly than the Gabriel days, but it still retains many of the progressive bonafides. There's the hits "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It On Again." Then there's the non-hits but songs that are amazing: "Duchess" and "Man Of Our Times" and favorite of mine "Please Don't Ask" and the very proggy conclusion with "Duke's Travels" and "Duke's End."
Abacab and Genesis followed in the pop trajectory. That and Phil Collins pop solo career led to the monster that was Invisible Touch. It's very easy to forget what a great drummer Phil Collins was. A seriously fantastic drummer. The knock he gets for turning Genesis into a pop act is unfair. Listening to the post-Gabriel records the change is there but it is natural; Lamb does not give way to IT but evolves there. Some might say devolve but whatever. I don't begrudge them moving more towards pop. It's their art and they get to choose what to do with it.
The resiliency of the band, their ability to grow and mature and evolve is fascinating. It is a testament to what exceptional musicians Phil Collins and Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were (are).
If you've forgotten, or maybe never knew, what a great band Genesis could be, here's one of my favorites:
Friday, November 29, 2013
Record Store Day Black Friday 2013
After gorging on food on Thanksgiving Day, I dragged my self to Record and Tape Exchange in Fairfax for the Black Friday special edition of Record Store Day. For those unfamiliar, RSD is when artists will release special stuff, usually 7" vinyl but sometimes 12" selections. A store does not get everything, so it's kind an exciting and sometimes disappointing proposition. But it's a cool way to support local vinyl shops!
I was planning to get in line at 6am but sense took over. I wound up sleeping until 7am. After hopping up and brushing my teeth and throwing on a bunch of layers I drove over to the shop. I brought a blanket to protect my rear end from the cold concrete and my iPad to help while away the time. I was 7th in line with a bunch of high school kids ahead of me. Not too shabby. Nobody showed up after me until the store opened, so one could argue it didn't really matter but whatever.
But MAN it was cold. Like high 20s when I got there. I was warm for the first 30 minutes but it did not last. I was convinced my nose was going to fall off. My toes went numb even through the wool socks and my heavy hiking boots. I talked a little while with the kid in front of me but for the most part is read and listened to my iPod to tune out the talk of the group of 5 kids at the front of the line.
My list included live cuts from Dawes and Band Of Horses, the Albini mix of Nirvana's In Utero, a Rush 10" single, a Townes Van Zandt collection and the latest Brendan Benson which doesn't come out officially until 2014. From that all I got was the Band of Horses 7". But it is very cool. It's two acoustic songs from a Ryman Auditorium gig, a beautiful version of a favorite called "No One's Gonna Love You" and backed by a cover of Gram Parsons' "Song For You." The Nirvana record was there but somebody snatched it. The rest didn't interest me.
I then headed over to the new vinyl arrivals section and happily found a bunch of gold. The Beatles White Album, the first James Gang album as well as their Carnegie Hall live album, One Of These Nights from The Eagles, the last Peter Gabriel-fronted Genesis record The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Led Zeppelin 1, and three classic Rush LPs. I also got my sweetheart a copy of The Muppet Movie soundtrack, since I wasn't able to find the special Muppets Christmas 7".
All in all a good day record wise!! If you like vinyl you should definitely check out Record Store Day when it happens.
I was planning to get in line at 6am but sense took over. I wound up sleeping until 7am. After hopping up and brushing my teeth and throwing on a bunch of layers I drove over to the shop. I brought a blanket to protect my rear end from the cold concrete and my iPad to help while away the time. I was 7th in line with a bunch of high school kids ahead of me. Not too shabby. Nobody showed up after me until the store opened, so one could argue it didn't really matter but whatever.
But MAN it was cold. Like high 20s when I got there. I was warm for the first 30 minutes but it did not last. I was convinced my nose was going to fall off. My toes went numb even through the wool socks and my heavy hiking boots. I talked a little while with the kid in front of me but for the most part is read and listened to my iPod to tune out the talk of the group of 5 kids at the front of the line.
My list included live cuts from Dawes and Band Of Horses, the Albini mix of Nirvana's In Utero, a Rush 10" single, a Townes Van Zandt collection and the latest Brendan Benson which doesn't come out officially until 2014. From that all I got was the Band of Horses 7". But it is very cool. It's two acoustic songs from a Ryman Auditorium gig, a beautiful version of a favorite called "No One's Gonna Love You" and backed by a cover of Gram Parsons' "Song For You." The Nirvana record was there but somebody snatched it. The rest didn't interest me.I then headed over to the new vinyl arrivals section and happily found a bunch of gold. The Beatles White Album, the first James Gang album as well as their Carnegie Hall live album, One Of These Nights from The Eagles, the last Peter Gabriel-fronted Genesis record The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Led Zeppelin 1, and three classic Rush LPs. I also got my sweetheart a copy of The Muppet Movie soundtrack, since I wasn't able to find the special Muppets Christmas 7".
All in all a good day record wise!! If you like vinyl you should definitely check out Record Store Day when it happens.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Old Favorites: Living Room Scene
Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope everybody has a great holiday, eats a ton, and then hits the gym tomorrow!!
I am going to debut a new feature and I am calling it "Old Favorites." Three guesses as to what it means. You...in the back...what's that you say? CORRECT! Here I will be talking about old records that happen to be favorites of mine yet maybe haven't been played for a while.
For this inaugural post, I am listening to Living Room Scene by the late, great Dillon Fence. They are a four-piece out of North Carolina who toured the East coast extensively in the early to mid-90s. They never got any national exposure, except for a brief mention in a Rolling Stone cover story about Hootie and the Blowfish. Regardless of that, they were one of my most favorite bands whilst in college. Their sound in kind of typical alternative power-pop from those days. Hootie was one of the bands they were "associated" with; they and other bands from the North Carolina and South Carolina power-pop scene had supposedly made an agreement to take some of them on tour if they ever made it big. Hootie did so they took Dillon Fence with them. That's nice.
Dillon Fence only made three full length records, the mellow-ish Rosemary, the harder edged Outside In, and their swan-song Living Room Scene. I probably like OI slightly better than LRS, but this was the one that first got me into them. The music is earth-shattering but it is really well done. Lead singer and guitarist Greg Humphreys was the soul of the band; his voice is very reminiscent of a rockier, Faces-era Rod Stewart.
I first saw them when they opened for The Connells, another North Carolina favorite, at old WUST Hall, which is now known as the New 930 Club, though it's been there nearly 20 years now. WUST Hall didn't have many rock shows there back then. The configuration was pretty much the same as the 930 is now, but it was much dingier. The coolest part was there were murals of Baptist revivals on the walls. Back then, the U Street Corridor in DC was much more sketchy than it is now. Going down there for college kids was a bit of a dangerous thrill. We didn't know any better.
After LRS came out the band went through a bunch of members. Bassist Chris Goode left to go back to school or something, then guitarist Kent Alphin left to form Granger. Drummer Scott Carle stuck around. I saw the original line-up just once, though I wound up seeing their various incarnations about five times. I remember seeing them at old old 930 Club and meeting the band in the long hallway leading to the club. What was most cool was how happy they were to see me and my friend Eric wearing our Dillon Fence tee shirts. They were genuinely happy about it. I remember seeing them at at the old Bayou in Georgetown where we got to hang out with them for a while after the show. I also saw drummer Scott Carle as a roadie for The Connells and was very excited he remembered us and talked with us for a while. They were very nice guys but seemed bummed about not making it big.
I still spin the old Dillon Fence records, and my LRS tee-shirt is one of my oldest and rattiest but I still like wearing it. Here's the title track; hope you enjoy it!
I am going to debut a new feature and I am calling it "Old Favorites." Three guesses as to what it means. You...in the back...what's that you say? CORRECT! Here I will be talking about old records that happen to be favorites of mine yet maybe haven't been played for a while.
For this inaugural post, I am listening to Living Room Scene by the late, great Dillon Fence. They are a four-piece out of North Carolina who toured the East coast extensively in the early to mid-90s. They never got any national exposure, except for a brief mention in a Rolling Stone cover story about Hootie and the Blowfish. Regardless of that, they were one of my most favorite bands whilst in college. Their sound in kind of typical alternative power-pop from those days. Hootie was one of the bands they were "associated" with; they and other bands from the North Carolina and South Carolina power-pop scene had supposedly made an agreement to take some of them on tour if they ever made it big. Hootie did so they took Dillon Fence with them. That's nice.
Dillon Fence only made three full length records, the mellow-ish Rosemary, the harder edged Outside In, and their swan-song Living Room Scene. I probably like OI slightly better than LRS, but this was the one that first got me into them. The music is earth-shattering but it is really well done. Lead singer and guitarist Greg Humphreys was the soul of the band; his voice is very reminiscent of a rockier, Faces-era Rod Stewart.I first saw them when they opened for The Connells, another North Carolina favorite, at old WUST Hall, which is now known as the New 930 Club, though it's been there nearly 20 years now. WUST Hall didn't have many rock shows there back then. The configuration was pretty much the same as the 930 is now, but it was much dingier. The coolest part was there were murals of Baptist revivals on the walls. Back then, the U Street Corridor in DC was much more sketchy than it is now. Going down there for college kids was a bit of a dangerous thrill. We didn't know any better.
After LRS came out the band went through a bunch of members. Bassist Chris Goode left to go back to school or something, then guitarist Kent Alphin left to form Granger. Drummer Scott Carle stuck around. I saw the original line-up just once, though I wound up seeing their various incarnations about five times. I remember seeing them at old old 930 Club and meeting the band in the long hallway leading to the club. What was most cool was how happy they were to see me and my friend Eric wearing our Dillon Fence tee shirts. They were genuinely happy about it. I remember seeing them at at the old Bayou in Georgetown where we got to hang out with them for a while after the show. I also saw drummer Scott Carle as a roadie for The Connells and was very excited he remembered us and talked with us for a while. They were very nice guys but seemed bummed about not making it big.
I still spin the old Dillon Fence records, and my LRS tee-shirt is one of my oldest and rattiest but I still like wearing it. Here's the title track; hope you enjoy it!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Sink In The Fangs
Red Fang continues in the tradition of scuzzy looking guys drinking a shitload of beer and playing heavy stoner rock. They are heavy, they are loud, they play fast and then they play sludgy. And if you watch any of their videos they really love beer. Take "Wires" for instance. The setup is they receive a check for $5000 to make a video, which they promptly use to buy beer and destroy a ton of shit. It's funny and stupid all at the same time and perfectly encapsulates who they appear to be.
Whales and Leeches is their new record and it builds on their self-titled debut and 2011's Murder The Mountains. Like the last record it is produced by Chris Funk from The Decemberists. If you have heard of that band you might find it curious he would produce a band like Red Fang. They both come from Portland, OR, so they have that going for them but other than that the connections are sparse. The Decemberists offer a very progressive take on folk music. Red Fang would be expected to beat those guys up. But music is really all connected. It's chords and notes and guitars and beats no matter if it is loud or soft or someplace in between. And Funk's production is something that makes Red Fang stand out from the common stoner metal band. Sure it's heavy but there are dynamics and nuance working here that you don't always find on albums from like-minded but lesser bands. A special treat is seeing Roger Joseph Manning Jr.'s name in the credits, he being the former keyboardist in power pop bands Jellyfish and Imperial Drag. His talents are utilized for just one track but it helps escort Red Fang's trip down the road toward more interesting and different places.
Whales and Leeches is their new record and it builds on their self-titled debut and 2011's Murder The Mountains. Like the last record it is produced by Chris Funk from The Decemberists. If you have heard of that band you might find it curious he would produce a band like Red Fang. They both come from Portland, OR, so they have that going for them but other than that the connections are sparse. The Decemberists offer a very progressive take on folk music. Red Fang would be expected to beat those guys up. But music is really all connected. It's chords and notes and guitars and beats no matter if it is loud or soft or someplace in between. And Funk's production is something that makes Red Fang stand out from the common stoner metal band. Sure it's heavy but there are dynamics and nuance working here that you don't always find on albums from like-minded but lesser bands. A special treat is seeing Roger Joseph Manning Jr.'s name in the credits, he being the former keyboardist in power pop bands Jellyfish and Imperial Drag. His talents are utilized for just one track but it helps escort Red Fang's trip down the road toward more interesting and different places.
Stand out tracks include the album opening one-two punch of "DOEN" and "Blood Like Cream." The latter offers an almost power-poppy bounce and an Iron Maiden-esque guitar run near the end. Other cuts, Like "No Hope" and especially "Crows In Swine" remind me of their former tour mates Mastodon. Album closer "Every Little Twist" brings on the psychedelic-a; if you have the vinyl and are not paying attention, you'll find this song will go on forever as the record's lock-groove comes blessed with the end of the song...playing forever and ever and ever.
Here's "Blood Like Cream" from Live at KEXP:
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