Jul 04 2023
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biography, book

Steve Turner • Mud Ride [Book]

I love books “written” by rock ’n’ rollers. STEVE TURNER (with Adem Tepedelen) has authored one called Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion and it’s not unlike most of its predecessors. In common would be: Co-writer who probably acted more as (first) editor, story wrangler and memory coaxer; light ’n’ breezy conversational tone that makes it seem like it was spoken into a tape recorder (or voice memo on a smartphone) and then transcribed (hence the quotations around “writer” above); and lots of photos with sarc-y captions. Check, check and check.

Mud Ride is Turner’s story, he being a “guitarist and founding member of Mudhoney,” the legendary Seattle band that very well may be the father and mother of grunge. The book is, indeed, a very first-person look at the birth of the PNW music scene that spawned a whole lot of monsters, including Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Nirvana – all bands that are considerably better known than Mudhoney. Yet, these guys (Turner and his eventual Mudhoney bandmates) were all there as it was happening, and Steve frequently humbly notes that none of them ever thought things were going to go as far as they did. But if anyone was qualified to tell the story, this guy’s one of a very few.

You definitely get a lot of inside info about what was going on in Seattle and environs in the mid ’80s in this book. And you’ll hear about bands that even those of us who were there had long forgotten about (and whose names I can’t even remember now after having just read the book). Curiously, Turner never mentions Alice In Chains once. Not sure if there’s some animosity there or if maybe Turner & Co. just never really had much to do with them… or if it’s something ultra personal that the author didn’t want to share with Joe Public. Regardless, Turner is respectful and doesn’t dish out the kind of salacious details that some would hope for. (Anything he notes like that is already public knowledge.)

Mud Ride isn’t revelatory. But it’s worth a read if you’re curious about Mudhoney and other bands of the time and how this unique scene became such a celebrated – and sometimes derided – phenomenon. – Marsh Gooch

3/5 (Chronicle Prism, 2023)

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Jun 27 2023
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Dub, Reggae

King Tubby & The Observer All Stars • Dubbing with The Observer [2CD]

I’ve been a fan of reggae – and especially dub – for quite some time. Just like a lot of people my age, my introduction to the music came in drips and drabs as a child. First record I can remember hearing that we would now call reggae (actually ska) was Desmond Dekker & The Aces’ “Israelites.” Then it was probably Eric Clapton’s hit of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff.” Hey, we all had to start somewhere and I was a suburban Orange County California kid, so that’s where it started for me. Fast forward with whirring tape sounds to 1981 and I am a beginning DJ at my college radio station, KCMU (Seattle). That place not only had a large record library, but nestled inside was an entire reggae section used to augment the DJs’ own records for broadcast on both standard music shows AND the specialty show, Positive Vibrations. Two hours of nothing but reggae every Saturday morning. At first I wouldn’t tune in for very long, but as I got accustomed to the music and discovered what I liked most about it, I came to keep it tuned in (or observe the DJ in-person at the station) for the entire show. Wow! There was so much more than just Bob Marley! (With all respect.) Since then I have amassed a pretty nice collection of reggae releases, mostly dub artists like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Prince Jammy and the great King Tubby.

The latest addition is KING TUBBY & THE OBSERVER ALL STARS’ Dubbing with The Observer, a new 2CD compilation out on Doctor Bird Records. Boasting “22 tracks new to CD,” it’s a treasure chest of dub mixes done by King Tubby in the mid ’70s. All of the tracks were originally produced by Niney The Observer and the first baker’s dozen here originally appeared on an LP collection of the same name. The rest – a whopping 37 cuts! – were singles and rare dub plates that fill out this compilation very nicely. One thing about the credits on reggae – and especially dub – releases is that the artists’ names can be downright confusing. Not only are the titles on the CD, the traycard and booklet all slightly different, but the group credits, as in the name that the recording was originally attributed to, are myriad. And that can be a problem when you’ve added a new compilation to your stash and find out that you already have many of these tracks, but they were previously credited to somebody else.  (Let’s not even talk of the fact that many of the songs use the same basic tracks as their foundation! Yeah, it’s confusing alright.) Frequently, for instance, a compilation album today will be credited to the name of the person who mixed the tracks (Tubby, Perry, Jammy) and not the producer or even the actual artists themselves. But THAT shows you just how important the mix engineer is to this whole thing. For it is he (almost always a “he”) who conjures all of the magic, creatively mixing instruments and vocals in and out, adding more or less reverb or other effects, and so on. And THAT is what I love so much about dub!

Dubbing with The Observer is a title I had not heard of when I ordered it a few months ago. But being a king-size King Tubby fan, I knew I had to get it. Am I glad I did! The tracks originally came out on Jamaica’s Observer Records, Niney’s own label, with the musicians billed as too many different names to try and list here. There are some real clever mixes on this one, not a lot of vocals except those that come and go here and there, and top notch sound quality from start to finish. With 50 tracks in all, I’m sure this compilation will become one of my go-to CDs when I want to chill out with some tasty dub. – Marsh Gooch

4/5 (Doctor Bird/Cherry Red DBCDD122, 2023)

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Jun 24 2023
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box set, CD, compilation, Limited Edition, vinyl

The Teardrop Explodes • Culture Bunker 1978-82 [CD, LP]

You’d have to be completely off your rocker to add THE TEARDROP EXPLODES’ Culture Bunker 1978-82 to your music library. A 6CD set (also available in truncated vinyl form), this compilation includes a truckload of the obscure UK band’s even more obscure recordings – along with their semi-known “hit” singles – in a handy set that will sit alongside your other box sets crying out for your attention for years to come. I’m not saying you won’t occasionally pull it down from the shelf, look over its contents, and wonder if there’s time to dig in… because you will. But it could very well be that you’ll only play Discs 1 and 2: the ones with the familiar album and singles tracks that are really, truly, what keep you interested in The Teardrop Explodes in the first place.

As I sit in my chair (it’s not a rocker, incidentally) writing these words I’m actually listening to The Teardrop Explodes’ Wilder album, their second LP (from 1981). It’s easier to write about Julian Cope’s band by listening to the more tuneful stuff. What’s on Culture Bunker that is worth checking out is, I’m afraid, going to be appealing only to the most hardcore Teardrop fan, and quite possibly only once or twice in this lifetime. For instance, the live tracks on Disc 3 (entitled From Drug Puritan to Acid King; very apropos) are from the band’s very first gigs and have an annoyingly monotonous vibe – you know, the kind of gig you go to where you can tell the band is still trying to find its sound. The Teardrop Explodes were capable of coming up with some awfully great tunes, actually, like most of Wilder, so Culture Bunker serves what may be its ostensible purpose of showing how Cope & Co. got from point A (forming in Liverpool in 1978) to point B (breaking up in 1982), with a couple of handfuls of both highlights and turmoil in between to keep the thing afloat.

“What highlights are to be found in the Culture Bunker?” you ask. Well, there are multiple versions of Teardrop classics like “Sleeping Gas,” “Treason” and “Read It in Books” (original single and live versions), demos of later Julian Cope tunes “Screaming Secrets,” “World Shut Your Mouth” and “Pussyface,” and a rare cover demo of The Zombies’ “Butcher’s Tale.”  Naturally, there’s the stone cold killer “Passionate Friend,” and further good ones “Like Leila Khaled Said,” “Bouncing Babies” and “Reward.” In all there are 95 tracks on the CD version (and 81 on the vinyl) and nearly half of them are unreleased.

Do you need Culture Bunker? No. You need food, air and water. And friends. If you’re already a Teardrop Explodes aficionado, though, you may want to snap this box set up before they’re gone. Rumor has it that it is extremely limited, which isn’t surprising when you consider the cost of keeping something like this in print. The label could make a lot more money off of some Elton John/Rolling Stones/Beatles/insert-some-other-classic-rock-band box set; Culture Bunker is the kind of thing that gets released because some A&R person in charge of “catalog” has a hard-on for putting out something like this. I guess we should thank goodness for hard-ons, then. – Marsh Gooch

3.5/5 (Universal Music Recordings 3585940, 2023)

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Jun 21 2023
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CD, vinyl

The Baseball Project • Grand Salami Time! [CD, LP]

“Hey! Dying quails and frozen ropes or a can of corn…” What? It’s Grand Salami Time!, that’s what. When listening to THE BASEBALL PROJECT you’re gonna encounter a whole lot of catch phrases and slang terms, but don’t let that deter you from this (home) plate of rock ’n’ roll that just happens to be all about America’s National Pastime (baseball, that is). Actually more of a platter than a plate, there are fifteen – 15! – songs about baseball here, and this is the band’s FOURTH release! Jesus, is there really that much to say about a sport that seems to be in such decline these days? Apparently there is.

The Baseball Project, if you don’t already know, is made up of Scott McCaughey (The Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows), Peter Buck and Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) and Linda Pitmon (Filthy Friends, Alejandro Escovedo) – a “supergroup” if you like that kind of term. And as you might expect from their pedigree, the band puts a decidedly alternative rawk spin on these songs about baseball, using all the “stuff” they can get away with to get you to take a swing… even if you’re not a fan of the game you’re likely to go into extra innings listening to Grand Salami Time! What’s really cool about this one is the songs aren’t all happy-go-lucky, ah shucks cornpone about the game. Because, as any true baseball fan will tell you, it ain’t all grand slams, triple plays and successful suicide squeezes. There’s a lot of melancholy, sadness and heartbreak (boo hoo!) in the game – just ask any Mariners fan – and The Baseball Project projects that, too. “The Yips,” “Screwball,” “Fantasy Baseball Widow” and the epically sad “Journeyman” are just a few that’ll bring tears to yer eyes. It’s definitely nice to get not only the lyrics but McCaughey’s play-by-play commentary about the songs in the liner notes, which helps explain what is or isn’t going on in the songs, especially if you’re not as hardcore about the game as these folks are. The album definitely knocks it outta the park/clears the fence/insert-your-own-favorite-baseball-cliché-for-a-good-thing here.

There may be other bands in the world dedicating themselves to one sport or another (have you heard The Duckworth Lewis Method, cricket fans?), but none are as engaging or prolific as The Baseball Project. If you’re a fan of hard hitting power pop ’n’ roll (or any of the bands these musicians are typically associated with) you’ll surely want to get out the rye bread and mustard, gramma… ’cause it’s Grand Salami Time! – Marsh Gooch

4/5 (Omnivore OVCD-517, 2023)

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May 16 2023
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CD, reissue, vinyl

The Three O’Clock • Baroque Hoedown [CD, LP]

Set your wayback machine to Los Angeles, 1982. THE THREE O’CLOCK crowd into a small recording studio and lay down their first recordings, to be released as a humble 5-song EP called Baroque Hoedown on local Frontier Records. The foursome go on to spearhead what was coined as the “Paisley Underground,” a loose group of new indie groups that included The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate and Rain Parade. A movement in which young folks of the ’80s paid tribute to young musicians from the ’60s, it didn’t so much “take off” as it did permeate the growing college rock/MTV Cutting Edge world. (A couple of those bands found fame beyond that original clique.) Make your way back to now, 40 something years later, and that lil’ ol’ extended play has continued to inspire, enough so that YepRoc Records has reissued it with four more tracks and made a proper, exciting LP out of it. Okay, “LP” may be a bit of a stretch… Baroque Hoedown, even with bonus tracks, clocks in at under 30 minutes. Still.

The Three O’Clock lead off their debut release with the curiously titled “With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” which certainly caught my eye as a freshman English major-slash-college radio DJ. I dropped the needle on it and it caught my ear, too, with its insistent intro drum beat and guitar/keyboard swirl-o-rama. Bassist/lead singer Michael Quercio’s nasal, boyish, English-affected voice exudes wonder and respect for the sounds that his group pay tribute to, whether he and Gregg Gutierrez, Mickey Mariano and Danny Benair are doing their own accomplished tunes (“Cantaloupe Girlfriend,” “I Go Wild,” the excellent “Marjorie Tells Me,” “As Real As Real”) or their killer cover of The Easybeats’ “Sorry.” The band created a vibe that brought mid ’60s L.A. to early ’80s L.A. without sounding dated or cloying. And at the original five songs, it definitely left me and many like-minded kids wanting more. Of the bonus tracks here – all recorded around the same time – we get original “In Love In Too” and two more covers, “Feel a Whole Lot Better” (The Byrds) and “Lucifer Sam” (Pink Floyd), that are real zingers. (These originally came out on a 1983 French release that added them to the original five.)

Well, my friends, The Three O’Clock’s Baroque Hoedown is again available for your insatiable desire to dig what was put down before… I hope you’re ready for the big smile that’s gonna appear between your lucky ears. – Marsh Gooch

4/5 (YepRoc YEP-2730, 1982/2023)

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May 01 2023
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CD, colored vinyl, vinyl

The Damned • Darkadelic [CD, LP]

THE DAMNED are still with us. That’s basically a good thing, for it’s hard for me to imagine my life without these clowns in it. I started listening to them in my early 20s and have never stopped. The problem is, they’re just not what they used to be – which is to be expected, but still…

This week saw the release of Darkadelic, The Damned’s fourth album of new-material in the 21st century, and it’s quite similar to their last one, Evil Spirits. I declined to review that one at the time because I felt it was nowhere near as good as 2001’s Grave Disorder, a genuinely great album, so I just couldn’t do it. Still, this new one, though flawed, has some great moments. I’ll go with “Beware of the Clown” and “The Invisible Man” as the two tracks that positively stand out, but the bulk of the rest of the album feels a bit like “generic Damned” to me. And I hate to say this! I love these guys! But there’s just something missing. There’s a vague “phoning it in” feel, for one thing, and then there’s the production. Right from the start Darkadelic feels like it’s missing some top end, sounding a bit muffled until Dave Vanian’s voice comes in and tells you that the mix itself is a bit off. With Evil Spirits, with production by the great Tony Visconti, it was more an issue of the songs themselves. This time the songs are better but the production isn’t. At least they still rock.

Oh, what is a Damned fan to do? Well, in my case, I am always interested in what they’re up to so I stay tuned in. You may likely find you like Darkadelic, if only because  – despite their name – The Damned are still with us. Hallelujah. – Marsh Gooch

3/5 (earMusic 0217847EMU, 2023)

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Apr 26 2023
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cassette, CD, colored vinyl, vinyl

Robyn Hitchcock • Life After Infinity [CD, CS, LP]

For a guy who’s just turned 70, ROBYN HITCHCOCK hasn’t seemed to have slowed down. In fact, he has just released Life After Infinity, an all-instrumentals album available on all formats (including cassette tape) that is his second full-length release in six months. While Shufflemania! was more like a standard “band” album*, this one’s pretty much just Robyn on instruments and UK pal/co-producer Charlie Francis on bass and percussion. (He also did the mix and mastering, trainspotters.)

If you’ve been a longtime fan you’ll know that Hitchcock has included instrumentals on his releases before, most notably on 1984’s I Often Dream of Trains, which had some really lovely tunes and textures amongst the 14 songs that made up the original release. I can’t say there’s anything spectacularly different here – and that’s a good thing. There are some beauties here, for sure, and they’re all as fleshed out as you’d hope. Indeed, what I do detect as different is that there are a handful of tunes with the kind of sound beds you’d expect to hear on one of Eno’s ambient records. On top of that you’ll hear acoustic tunes such as “Nasturtiums for Anita” and “Mr. Ringerson’s Picnic,” “Tubby Among the Nightingales” (which sounds like something from George Harrison’s Wonderwall Music), and the double-header “Daphne, Skipping” and “Pleisosaurs in the Desert,” in which the first tune makes its way into your psyche and is followed by the second, which starts out sounding like the first one in reverse but goes somewhere else.

Life After Infinity is a gorgeous little album and in some ways it’s unlike anything in Robyn Hitchcock’s discography. You really get a chance to hear all that beautiful instrumentation, unhindered by concerns of where the vocals will sit in the mix. A nice addition to this man’s oeuvre, which numbers nearly 40 albums! – Marsh Gooch

3.5/5 (Tiny Ghost [no number], 2023)

* (A band album in which the instruments were tracked separately at different studios around the globe; it was recorded during lockdown.)

[There are no examples of the songs from this album on the Internet at the time of this writing, so please enjoy these instrumental samples from the above-mentioned I Often Dream of Trains.]

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Apr 23 2023
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Audiophile, Limited Edition, record store day, reissue, vinyl

Paul McCartney & Wings • Red Rose Speedway (50th Anniversary Half-Speed Master) [LP]

The reissue train keeps chugging along, and so here we are to tell you about PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS, who have just released their latest reissue, a half-speed mastered edition of Red Rose Speedway. This 1973 album is best known for the big hit “My Love,” and also included a super rockin’ tune called “Big Barn Bed” (forever etched in my mind as “Big Red Barn” because of a bootleg live recording I had with that erroneous title on it). It was the second proper Wings album (after 1972’s Wild Life) and it was – if I may be frank – just about as spotty.

Like most of McCartney’s solo material, Red Rose Speedway has been reissued numerous times so it’s not exactly a tough one to find – especially since it did contain the band’s first number one single which certainly helped the album’s sales. Though this version is notable for its audiophile sound qualities, the songs themselves are a mixed bag. The two I mentioned above are the best, and since they’re the first two cuts, it goes a bit downhill from there. That being said, there are some really good songs here, such as “Get On the Right Thing” and bits of the medley that closes side two. McCartney and Wings were clearly trying to find their way at this point, for it was less than a year later that the core trio of Paul, wife/keyboard player Linda and old friend/guitarist Denny Laine broke out of their sophomore slump with the worldwide smash Band on the Run.

Since I’m not only an unabashed Macca fan but an audiophile fanatic, too, this version of RRS was a must-have… if only for the punchy sound of “Big Barn Bed” and the tone of Henry McCullough’s Les Paul in the sublime solo of “My Love.” You’d also likely notice how much better McCartney’s bass sounds and some mix elements that aren’t as clear in previous versions of the album. But if you’re not as big a fan as many of us are you might not be as anxious to add this to your collection. Still, those working their way through the McCartney solo catalog might want to grab this version while they can; one day you might appreciate the subtle beauty of “Little Lamb Dragonfly” and wish you had it sounding as great as it does here.

By the way, since McCartney has been releasing these half-speed masters on each album’s 50th anniversary, THAT means Band on the Run is next. Take my money now! – Marsh Gooch

3/5 (Capitol 00602448583246, 2023)

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Apr 20 2023
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Audiophile, reissue, vinyl

David Bowie • Aladdin Sane [LP]

WHAT? Another DAVID BOWIE reissue? Get out! No, it’s true! As many artists have been doing in the last decade or so, when one of their classic albums celebrates a round-number anniversary (as in, one ending in a “0″ or a “5”), they put out some kinda re-release to capitalize on the moment. And as has been lamented about throughout the world wide web – and even here! – sometimes a new super deluxe box set or reissue is completely welcome… and sometimes it ain’t. Luckily for you and me, this 50th anniversary vinyl reish of Aladdin Sane is absolutely worth it. And here’s why.

First of all, let’s put it out there: This is my favorite Bowie album. I own the clear vinyl Rykodisc Analogue edition, the double CD 30th anniversary reissue, a silver vinyl reissue from a few years ago, and now this: a half-speed master that’s just come out. It’s no secret that I am also a big fan of these audiophile releases, be it Mobile Fidelity’s decades old Original Master Recording series, Classic Records’ killer and collectible reissues (The Who, Big Star) or other labels’ own such releases. I can hear the difference! And having already picked up last year’s Ziggy Stardust half-speed master and being overwhelmed by how much better it sounds than any of the handful of other Ziggys I have had ’n’ heard, I knew I’d be all over this one. Could “Cracked Actor” sound any better? Not unless you were in the studio when Ken Scott and Bowie were doing the final mix! Could “Drive-In Saturday” sound any better? No, my friends, for this is, indeed, a crash course for the ravers. I could go on. But then I’d have to use my brainpower to keep coming up with clever quips instead of to just TAKE IT ALL IN. At the end of a listening session with this baby, all I can say is that I am definitely a sucker for quality vinyl. And let’s face it: All I have to give is guilt for dreaming! – Marsh Gooch

5.5/5 (Parlophone DBAS 50, 2023)

 

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Apr 18 2023
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CD, digital download, reissue

NRBQ • Tiddlywinks [CD, DD, LP] / Terry Adams & Steve Ferguson • Louisville Sluggers [CD, DD]

We’ve got another new Omnivore reissue of a classic NRBQ album to talk about and it’s Tiddlywinks. Not a boring kids game, this one. Well… it does have a slight naiveté to it, but this one – originally issued on the band’s Red Rooster label in 1980 – is pure NRBQ. You get all the ingredients of a Q classic: humor, poignancy, rockin’, rollin’ and a slightly skewed yet completely healthy take on what makes rock ’n’ roll so fun all these years along.

Probably the NRBQ tune most people know (if they know any of them) is “Me and the Boys,” a cracker of a song that’s been covered by both Dave Edmunds and Bonnie Raitt (both big Q fans), and it’s here sounding better than ever. Other stellar band originals “Want You to Feel Good Too,” “Beverly” and “Feel You Around Me” are here, too. Basically, all three NRBQ songwriters are well represented: Terry Adams (keyboards, clavinet), Al Anderson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). (Drummer Tom Ardolino didn’t write any of these but his drumming is excellent.) Also present on Tiddlywinks is the band’s sprightly take on “Music Goes ’Round and Around” (from 1935 and a perennial jazz/R&B favorite). This Omnivore reissue includes a few bonus tracks, though one or two have appeared on previous Q CD reissues. All told, Tiddlywinks is an essential release from the New Rhythm and Blues Quartet.

Also reissued by Omnivore is a 2006 release by founding NRBQ members TERRY ADAMS & STEVE FERGUSON, Louisville Sluggers. Though Ferguson left the band after only a few albums, he was the main dude when they were still a quintet and is responsible for some of their all-time greats, including my fave, “Flat Foot Flewzy.” These two guys have stayed friends over the years and they collaborated on this album to prove it. Louisville Sluggers is a Q album in all but name, since the aforementioned Tom Ardolino provides drums for the proceedings and a few other band buds contribute, but the overall feel of this release is not as “Q-y” as I’d hoped for. You do get the essence of an NRBQ outing, true, but if you weren’t already a fan you might not detect it. Still, with guys this talented, how can you not find something to dig?  – Marsh Gooch

4/5 (NRBQ, Omnivore OVCD-500), 2.5/5 (Adams & Ferguson, OVCD-514) (2023)

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