Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

An American vs English Thing?

Sep 172010

Quick thought following about 3 minutes of reflection: I’m reading this Slate piece on the partnership of Lennon and McCartney, and my mind started drifting to the wealth of fantastic English bands vs the wealth of fantastic American solo artists.

Think about the titans of rock ‘n roll (and country and soul, in the case of America): Americans gave the world Elvis, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and Johnny Cash, among other major solo artists. England gave the world David Bowie and…Donovan?

When it comes to bands, though, England gave us The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Clash… America gave us The Beach Boys and…The Byrds?

Does the wealth of legendary American solo artists (and dearth of legendary American bands) have something to do with our independent pilgrim/cowboy spirit? Does the converse concerning English musicians have something to do with their spirit? Am I overlooking American bands at the usually acknowledged top level? Am I overlooking English solo artists at the usually acknowledged top level? Am I really going to have to hear it from Ramones and Scott Walker fans?

Life-Size Clash!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 172010

I’d never seen this performance by The Clash on a 1977 French TV show until a few minutes ago. It’s cool to see them in a controlled environment, with no audience, no pumping PA system, and no concert hall reverberations. They’re presented in a fashion even more straightforward than on their simple, direct debut album. It’s life-size Clash! Enjoy.

Xylophones: They’re Not Just for Marching Bands Anymore

Posted by ladymisskirroyale

Sep 172010

Today, while driving to work, I was listening to “Fredag,” a new track by the classic/psychedelic rock outfit Dungen. It features guitars, pounding drums, Leon Russell-style piano chords, and….a xylophone.

The xylophone seems to be such a sweet, happy instrument that is well suited to twee-ish pop, such as The Magnetic Fields. But in a quick scan of our music collection, Mr. Royale and I unearthed these other xylophone-friendly rock tracks:

“I Will Follow” by U2
“Gone Daddy Gone” by the Violent Femmes
“Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix
“Under My Thumb” by the Rolling Stones

And I’m sure there are more that you can think of. So is there a place in rock for the xylophone?

P.S. – “Born To Run” showcases a glockenspiel…

Album Covers That Delivered!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 152010

Floods!

Certainly, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. We know this to be true, or true enough that we do our part to pass this wisdom down to younger generations, but sometimes we do – judge a book, or record album, by it’s cover, that is. I’m sure I’m not the only Townsperson who’s bought an album based almost solely on the strength of its album cover.

Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, in its die-cut, round cover, was a no-brainer purchase many years ago. I took it home, however, and never fell for it. A few years later I sold it, only to buy it again because the cover was so damn cool! I still don’t like that album.

On the other hand, there are some albums I’ve bought almost solely because of a cool album cover that have delivered. I picked up the first Undertones album based on the cover shot of those cheery, aware teens wearing “floods” before I knew anything about them other than the fact that they were one of those new-fangled punk bands I’d was just getting into. (As an aside, this old Trouser Press article I ran across reminds me that it’s no wonder I still love The Undertones as deeply and as personally as I do!)

There are others, I’m sure (in fact, I had one in mind when I thought about this thread, but it’s slipped my mind), and I’m sure I’ll remember some more as you share your album covers that delivered!

Beatles, but with…a twist

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 152010

Townsman trigmogigmo recently raised an interesting thought that may be blown out as its own thread:

To me, somehow Cheap Trick and The Smithereens, each in a completely different way, make me think “Beatles, but with Marshall stacks”. (There’s a fun question, what other bands are “Beatles, but with…”?)

I see at least two routes we can take on this: 1) bands that fit the “Beatles, but with [A TWIST]” perspective and 2) other bands that have added a twist to a classic template; for instance, “Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque is like ‘Big Star, with Marshall stacks.'”. Of course “Marshall stacks” does not need to be part of any of the possible answers.

INSTA-REVIEW: Extended Play Edition

Posted by KingEd

Sep 142010

The EP, or extended play, had run its course in America by the 1960s, but it was an established part of the UK rock ‘n roll scene, offering artists a chance to leak out a little more than a single to tease fans for the release of a new album or, perhaps, to get a musical tangent out of their system without the pressure of constructing an entire album around a possible lark. As you probably know, The Magical Mystery Tour album that Americans grew up with and that was released in German True Stereo by our friends in Germany was initially released in the UK as a double EP. The EP format was revived to some effect in both markets in the punk (often as 7″ EPs) and disco (think 12″ singles) scenes, but the coolest format ever, in my opinion, the classic vinyl, 10-inch EP that Epic tried to revive with a series that included The Clash‘s Black Market Clash and a decent Cheap Trick platter, did not take off. Too bad! One of my unfulfilled musical dreams is the release of a 10-inch EP that somehow pays homage to Captain Beefheart‘s Music in Sea Minor.

In the digital age the EP release may make more sense than ever. Think about how long it takes artists to release a new album. Think about how few songs from that album ever get played on the radio. Think about the short attention spans of iPod-equipped listeners who may have only loaded the initially catchiest handful of songs, that is, if they even bothered to download an entire album. Why shouldn’t artists release a handful of songs at a time as an EP, cut down on the wait between releases, and possibly generate more reviews and opportunities for lead tracks to get played on air? I don’t know if two artists, relative newcomer Jump Back Jake and Friend of the Hall Martin Newell had any of this in mind when putting together their latest EPs, but we’ll take ’em – and review ’em…after the jump.
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It Figures…

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 132010

I know most of you aren’t as mean-spirited as I am, and it’s great that most of you aren’t as tenacious and unforgiving about artists that bug you, but as you may know by now I’m no fan of Cheap Trick. Sure, they’ve got maybe 4 or 5 songs that I like, but for being a band with seemingly good intentions and a style of music that’s not too far removed from my wheelhouse they manage to bug me on a number of levels. A friend just passed along this clip by Fuse, a band Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson formed in the late-1906s, eventually recruiting remaining members of The Nazz and playing under either name, depending on which band was better known in a given region.

It figures. Yeah, yeah, it was “the times” and all that. Plenty of worthy artists went through their grandiose Deep Purple phase in 1968 and came out unscathed. But I’ve got multiple beefs with Cheap Trick, so I’m holding this part of their history against them.

This Fuse/Nazz alliance, however, does explain why some of those Cheap Trick guys landed in Philadelphia in the early 1970s. An old friend and music scene sage who still refuses to fly his freak flag in the Halls of Rock has told me about their stint tending bar at Artemis, a legendary Philly club from the early ’70s, where some of the founding members of Philadelphia’s late-’70s punk scene coallesced. So at least this exercise in continuing to collect dirt (ie, Fuse) on Cheap Trick has not been without merit. This is the life of a rock nerd.

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