Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a First-Ever Live-Broadcast Mystery Date!

 Posted by
Dec 242011
 

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

This week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In features the behind-the-scenes gift-wrapping skills of Mr. Moderator on Christmas Eve. Early on there’s the world podcast premiere of Townsman Hrrundivbakshi‘s brand-spanking-new Christmas classic, “I Want.” Then. about 20 minutes in he launches the Hall’s first-ever live-broadcast Mystery Date. Play along throughout the week! Then, help director Ron Howard cast the remaining actors in a planned live-action Charlie Brown film, starring Paul Giamatti as a grown-up Charlie and Edward Norton Jr. as his loyal friend Linus.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-59.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 59]

[Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]

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Looking Back and Looking Forward: Favorite 2011 Releases

 Posted by
Dec 232011
 

It’s that time of the year when everyone is reviewing their favorite musical releases of 2011, and we at Rock Town Hall should be proud to add to the fray. Although I’ve been thinking about my entries for the last few weeks, I’ve continued to be haunted by themes of Simon Reynolds‘ Retromania and our discussions about Moving Forward in our consideration of younger musicians and recent bands. We tend to not discuss a lot of new music on this site, and often it is in relation to previous bands or previous styles. However, I am the first admit that when I listen to new music, I’m always reminded of other records. While I hope we don’t only listen to bands because of their aural similarity to those that come before, I think that the experience can be a bridge to enjoying the music to a greater degree. With these hazily-drawn ideas on display, I give you my three favorites and additional honorable mentions from 2011.

  1. Moon Duo – Mazes: A splinter group from San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips, Moon Duo play highly addicting, droney, psychedelic garage rock. While their sound is not particularly new (see Suicide, Spacemen 3), I like that they are a dueling long hair male/female team. I’ve always been a fan of that Farfisa sound, but there’s something about watching a curtain of black hair swinging in time with the music that kicks it up a notch. And the guy’s deadpan voice is additionally mesmerizing.
  2. Real Estate – Days: This album got a lot of press which is odd given what an intimate record it is. The somewhat hushed vocals, the chiming guitar: the sound evokes the color green to me. Each song is melodic and a nice mixture of cheerful and wistful. The single, “It’s Real” will stick in your head (in a good way). For fans of Felt and The Go-Betweens.
  3. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic: Malkmus’s first Jicks album that really sounds like a band. The songs cover a variety of styles, some Pavementesque, others a la Steely Dan, and a couple Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era Byrds. But the very pleasant surprise here is Beck Hansen’s production: his understanding of their mutual stream-of-consciousness lyrics style takes this record to greater levels. (Honorable Mentions follow the jump!)  Continue reading »
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Rock’s Greatest Backing Band Tournament Prepares for Regionals

 Posted by
Dec 232011
 

Next week, after the holiday break has had a chance to settle in and Townspeople have begun fulfilling social commitments we will resume play in our tournament to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band ever.

The first two rounds have been completed. The attached grid shows where we stand as we prepare to enter the Regionals: REGIONALS 12/23/11 

Because the selections from this point forward are so crucial to future generations’ understanding of rock history, play will follow a different course of action in this round. Before any voting can take place, Townspeople will be encouraged to post YouTube clips of the backing bands you support in the coming round. You may begin launching your campaigns now, in this thread, or await the posting of the individual brackets. Then, after a few days of lobbying and counter-lobbying the polls will open. Dig?

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“Electric Ladyland, table for two? Electric Ladyland?”

 Posted by
Dec 222011
 

You may have read this story about a guy who legally changed his name to Led Zeppelin II.

Have you met my friend, Led Zeppelin II?

This would not be my choice for a new name, but I respect Led’s decision. Like the author of the article, I was wondering if his son will be named Led Zeppelin III? He says the change made him a better person and improved his quality of life, so more power to him.

We have aliases here at Rock Town Hall, but I can’t recall anyone whose alias is an album title. If you were going to change your real-life name to an album title, which one would you choose?

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He Was A Great (and Secret) Man…Ross MacManus

 Posted by
Dec 222011
 

I felt a pang of sadness on hearing of the death of Ross MacManus, who left us on either the 24th or 25th November (depending on which obituary you’re looking at). He started out as a jazz trumpeter, sang with the Joe Loss Orchestra in the 1950s and ’60s, was father to Declan, and became something of an institution in the UK thanks to an advertisement for R Whites Lemonade, which ran on British telly for 11 years.

The ad features Ross on vocals and acting, while Declan sings backing vocals, three years before he re-named himself Elvis (along with the surname of one of Ross’ pseudonyms – Day Costello). He repaid the favour by playing trumpet on “Out of Our Idiot” and “Mighty Like a Rose,” while an LP he made in 1972, Elvis Presley’s Golden Hits Sung By Big Ross and the Memphis Sound, was re-released in 2008 under the title of Elvis’s Dad Sings Elvis.

And so, by way of tribute, here is his greatest hit.

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The Makings of a Retirement Fund Song (aka Rock IRA)

 Posted by
Dec 202011
 

I’d like to propose a new RTH Glossary entry, the Retirement Fund Song (aka Rock IRA). Now I would never dare think that artists as idiosyncratic and with as much integrity as Van Morrison and Lou Reed would ever consciously write a song with the goal of funding their retirement, but by chance they have succeeded wildly with “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You” and “Perfect Day,” respectively. Think of all the special occasions folks will attach to those songs. Think of all the times those songs will be covered by a diverse set of artists. Think of the royalties those covers will generate.

Perhaps the original rock ‘n roll Retirement Fund Song was The Beatles‘ “Yesterday,” written and performed almost solely by Paul McCartney but powerful enough to fund the planned retirement of his songwriting partner John Lennon. Again, I have no reason to believe Paul consciously wrote “Yesterday” with retirement in mind, but in these tough economic times I can imagine today’s rockers feeling more apt to plan ahead.

To help a future generations of retired rockers, can we define the makings of a Retirement Fund Song (as opposed to any old “hit song”)? For instance, it would seem obvious that the song must be easy for other artists to cover and be romantic and/or nostalgic in lyrical content, but let’s get down to brass tacks. Let’s map out a rock ‘n roll retirement strategy around a legacy-making song that should be a part of the catalog of any artist with an eye toward a second vacation home.

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