Lou’s luxurious mane floppin’ around in the breeze
Year: 2007
The Electric Six – Live in Seattle
Photo by Pieter Van Hattem
Seattle, WA
Neumo’s
April 29, 2007
“This show doesn’t count!” said Dick Valentine. “We’re in-between albums right now, so this one’s unofficial.”
I leaned against the railing of the balcony at Neumo’s cheering with every bit of Tuesday night enthusiasm I could muster as the band took stage. The six of them each buzzed with high voltage electricity as promised. They clicked on their amps and checked their various levels as Dick pushed his mic stand to the side.
J Ship’s A – Z (with Jonathan Shipley)
LATEEF, YUSEF
A tenor sax great, Yusef Lateef (born William Huddleston in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1920) has played with the best, including Milt Jackson, Paul Chambers and Dizzy Gillespie. He found Islam in the 1950s and changed his name. A note, now, from the White House: He’s a terrorist! Watch out America! Fear him! His name is Yusef! He’s Islamic! YIKES! His sax is probably booby trapped with explosives. He’s Islamic! He’s a menace to the great world order. His name is Yusef! Do you know any Yusef’s that aren’t bloodthirsty demons?!
Kaiser Chiefs Interview
Nick “Peanut” Baines is a keyboardist, founding member of British rock outfit The Kaiser Chiefs and, like a character out of a Back To The Future sequel, can often be found wearing two ties. We left the tie question alone, but thought of a few others to prod the kind gentleman with in the wake of The Chiefs’ new record, Yours Truly Angry Mob.
Usounds: Why do Americans hate soccer?
Peanut: It’s not as glamorous as football, and you guys aren’t as good at it, so you invented your own.
Usounds: Fuck, guess we’re not pulling any punches. What lessons did you learn from your first record that helped you with Yours Truly?
Peanut: We learned that even if people don’t like your music, they want to see a good show. After you see more established bands, and they don’t give as good a show you’re really aware that you don’t want to become stale. After touring all over the world, playing huge stadiums, and putting on relentless shows every night, you become more of a rock and roll band. And that’s what we’ve tried to capture on the sound of the record and in the writing itself.
Nico The Frozen Borderline [Rhino Records]
Rating: 9.8
A vast majority of what we listen to today has been directly influenced by a cannon of elite artists. These seminal acts, most of which hail from the mid to late sixties, have come to be widely respected as they are routinely name checked by about every media source. And from the seeds of the original rock groups, there has been very little left in the way of innovation and invention. Because of this, so many groups over the years have mimicked, borrowed and outright copied the originators of the craft. Nico, of Velvet Underground fame, however, is one individual who was so devastatingly avant-garde that her albums remain, to this day, virtually unknown. In fact, her material was so unique that attempts at copying her sound have rarely been done. Rhino UK have just re-released The Marble Index and Desertshore, two of her best solo albums, in one package entitled The Frozen Borderline. The songs have been remastered and also included is a wealth of demos, outtakes, and alternate versions. These records are stellar and the recent mastering job that has been done adds a freshness to the sound that makes them even more incredible than they already were in their previous compact disc form.
Rob Crow Living Well [Temporary Residence]
Rating: 8.5
My introduction to Rob Crow was through one of his side projects, Thingy. I was sitting in my living room listening to the Songs About Angels, Evil, and Running Around on Fire album (incidentally – highly recommended) when a friend walked in the room and asked if I was listening to one of the Rob Crow bands.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – The Songs that we Sing
Vice Records really are the jack-of-all-diverse-album-releases lately. Check out Charlotte Gainsbourg’s The Songs that we Sing mp3. Oh yeah, and here’s her mom nude.