Bring Me The Heads Of The Jonas Brothers!

I just...can't...take it anymore.

-AF

Uncle Anacher's Punk Rock Tales: Beck

OK, so in 1994 a new band I was working with played a radio station festival. At said festival a young Beck Hansen was playing his first big show outside LA. Mellow Gold had just been released. If I remember correctly, I ingested half a hit of high quality acid – Hey, I wasn’t driving. It added a nice lil' sparkle to the festivities.

Beck’s band trotted out to a rousing ovation. Their stage clothes and in some cases their hair were adorned with selections from their backstage deli and crudités platters. An original, inventive and highly charged 45 minute set followed. Sadly, the crowd expected “Loser” parts deux through douze. Beck left the stage to a polite smattering of applause while most of the 1500 present were just plain confused. I was one of the smatterers.

Later I found myself standing next to Beck. I struck up a conversation with him. Now this is not something I normally do. I’m not big on bugging musicians I don’t work with, who don’t know me and to whom I haven’t been introduced. Beck looked bummed. So that night I made an exception.

I told him how and why I was impressed by his set. Beck's crisis of confidence was revealed in his reply, “They didn’t get it.” I countered with “Some people take this shit way too fucking seriously.” I smiled, bid him adieu and walked away.

The rest as they say is history.

-AF

I Say He's A National Treasure, Schee...

I escaped the bunker last nite to catch Bob Mould's NYC's Irving Plaza* gig. Bob's doing what I am told is his first full-on full band tour in a decade. This time around his band consists of longtime Mould protégé Jason Narduccy on bass (former co-leader of the oh-so-Sugar-y Verbow), Deep Dish bud/remixer extraordinaire/club maven Richard Morel AKA Pink Noise on keys plus fellow former hardcore superstar Brendan Fraser (of the tragically mothballed Fugazi) pounding the skins. How was it you ask?

O-M-F-G.

I think I've seen Bob 10 times in various incarnations over the years -- tho' prolly not in a decade or so. Since Hüsker Dü's '87 drugs/alcohol/ego/tragedy-fueled implosion (I believe the resulting crater can still be seen from space with the nekkid eye), Bob's built an impressive arsenal to call his own. I hadn't paid much attention to all things Bob lately. I hadn't heard his new album. I didn't know who was in his band. I was hopeful but wary. I burnt offerings & mumbled prayers that the gods of sound would favor our cause.

Fuck. Me.

Bob didn't just show up with his best band ever. No sirree. Bob & friends played a veritable fistful of Hüsker hits! Bob & co. dusted off a sixer of Sugar shanties too -- a full fucking half of Copper Blue! In fact, when all was sung and done, Bob's career-spanning 21-song two-encore set featured precisely two songs(!) from the brandy new District Line. (An aside to Mrs. Forester: You may be right. "Miniature Parade" is growin' on me).

I was woefully unprepared for this onslaught of Mouldy-goodness. If I had known, I would have packed a spare pair of skivvies. They would've come in handy 'cuz The Bobster gang roared relentlessly through a main set consummated by a deuce off HüDü's New Day Rising: "I Apologize" bursted into "Celebrated Summer". It veered on pleasantly overwhelming for all, Bob included.

Know this. Once upon a time -- I'm talking waaaaay back when Bob & I both still had little hair -- we chatted a coupla times at shows and during at least one interview. I found Bob to be not so very dour after all. Listening to his music you'd never know it. For this reluctant godfather of emo's mainstay is tapping into rage and sadness at their most primal levels. By its very nature the Bob Mould Concert Experience doesn't lend itself to witty on-stage banter, rock star smirks, collective group hugs and the like.

So as we basked in his reconnection with the cream of his canon, I was amused to catch intense ole Bob repeatedly & consciously catching himself right before he cracked a grin. And why the hell not grin? Those of us not on-stage were all in and went all-out from the sec he broke out "A Good Idea" at song #2. Together we forged our way thru 14 more angst-filled anthems 'til we reached that terribly rarefied spot where performer and performees simultaneously strike the Catharsis city limits. And we hadn't even made it to the goddamn encores!

Alas, the show's best moment kicked off its last: the first wig flipping chords to HüDü's "Makes No Sense At All". Walking off-stage Bob was visibly moved and seemingly shocked at our fervent gratitude for his gift. With the last note still ringing in our ears, we spilled into the streets our hearts full and our energies spent.

Shorter version: If Bob Mould is booked in your town by any means necessary GO! If he isn't, fer chrissakes get your ass to somewhere he is playing. It'll be good for your soul but bad for your ears.

-AF

Buy Bob Mould solo here. Workbook is 100% ASIAF-approved.
Buy Sugar here. Copper Blue is 100% ASIAF-approved.
Buy Hüsker Dü here. All but the first two are 100% ASIAF-approved. If I hadda pick just three I'd hafta snag New Day Rising, Zen Arcade and Candy Apple Grey.

*Note: I refuse to call Irving Plaza by any other name. Who in the name of Bill Graham's great ghost came up with this bright idea? The one and only NYC rock 'n' roll Fillmore, The Fillmore East, was 11 fucking blocks away in a completely different neighborhood! Live Nation's marketing dopes are tripping (and at least in their mid-60s) if they truly believe the "Fillmore" brand has a speck of name cachet with their core customers or anyone else after a 35-year absence.

All who do remember the real Fillmore - East should be be offended by this corporate identity theft. But then again they'd at best go to Irving Plaza a scant handful of times in their lives. No name change will make them attend more frequently. Calling the joint Hitler's Haus wouldn't keep them from queuing up for a dwindling chance to see Dylan, Santana or Dolly in club setting either.

++++Update: I cribbed last nite's set list from Palimpset & sprinkled lil' discog bits on it...

"The Act We Act" – Copper Blue – Sugar
"A Good Idea" – Copper Blue – Sugar
"I Hate Alternative Rock" – Bob Mould – solo
"See a Little Light" – Workbook – solo
"Hoover Dam" – Copper Blue – Sugar
"I Am Vision, I Am Sound" – Body of Song – solo
"Hanging Tree" – Black Sheets of Rain – solo
"Miniature Parade" – District Line – solo
"Your Favorite Thing" – File Under Easy Listening – Sugar
"Again and Again" – District Line – solo
"Circles" – Body of Song – solo
"Paralyzed" – Body of Song – solo
"Can’t Help You Anymore" – Copper Blue – Sugar
"I Apologize" – New Day Rising – HüDü
"Celebrated Summer" – New Day Rising – HüDü
"Divide and Conquer" – Flip Your Wig – HüDü

Encore #1
"Moving Trucks" – Last Dog and Pony Show – solo
"Egoverride" – Bob Mould – solo
"If I Can’t Change Your Mind" – Copper Blue – Sugar

Encore #2
"Chartered Trips" – Zen Arcade – HüDü
"Makes No Sense at All" – Flip Your Wig – HüDü

On The Road

I'll try to post whenever possible. In the meantime, there's always music.

I tend to get hung up on specific songs. Really hung up on certain songs. Sometimes it's for days or weeks. Sometimes it's for decades. "Temptation" is one of my "decades" tunes. I recently ran across my original 7" while going through my old vinyl.

I had quite the Love/Hate relationship with New Order. Love their music. Absolutely hated their live show. I had a serious case of bias based on my initial experience.

My first, and nearly last, New Order "concert" was the infamous August 2, 1985 gig at Boston's Opera House. It the band came on-stage over an hour late. New Order played 10 mostly obscure songs* -- not just refusing requests shouted out between songs but also taunting the audience too i.e. "We're not gonna play that one". Bernard went so far as to blow his nose into his mic repeatedly during "Everything's Gone Green."

The sound was awful. The "hits" nearly unrecognizable. No "Love Vigilantes." No "Your Silent Face." No "Dreams Never End." No "Confusion." No "Temptation." No encores. The band couldn't have cared less.

I left as the crowd began their riot. In '85, $18 was an exorbitant price to pay for such abuse. A decade later I worked with a surprisingly charming Peter Hook who was genuinely ashamed and appalled when reminded of this incident. (Apparently the New Order Opera House show had interrupted a bit of a band drug binge). In my experience, Hooky's shows with Monaco were professional affairs. A few nights bordered on the sublime.

A stellar studio group and consummate singles act, New Order should be forgiven for their past on-stage sins. (I know I would line up for a reunion gig). "Temptation" was their first great A-side. This "Temptation" has New Order live at the Beeb's Radio One.

Nice shorts Barney!

AF

*New Order Opera House Boston, MA-- August 2, 1985 set list:
The Perfect Kiss
Sooner Than You Think
Everything's Gone Green
Subculture
As It Is When It Was (obscurity with a version available on Retro)
Leave Me Alone
Thieves Like Us
Weirdo (early pre-Brotherhood version)
Face Up
Age Of Consent
Blue Monday

Oh Canada!

Bienvenue to those Canadian readers dropping by due to the mention of Tom Cochrane below. I hope you find my humble site of some interest to you. I mean no offense to you or your great country of which I am rather fond. It's Tom Cochrane I can't stand ('tho he's a damn sight more tolerable than Celine Dion or Aldo Nova).

Everybody please note that I've made minor adjustments to the layout of ASIAF. As a result, my Technorati profile is more confused than usual and my subscriptions seem to have gone bat shit crazy. Sorry!

AF

Lunatic Fringer Rudy Giuliani's Theme Song Uber-Gaffe or This Shit's So Funny I Just Couldn't Make It Up

Red Rider "Lunatic Fringe"

I haven't blogged in over a week. I haven't read any blogs. I haven't done jack. I've been sick again. Serves me right as I never got my flu shot this year despite belonging to a high risk group i.e. those who spend much of their livers locked safely in their culture bunkers. So ya'll will have to excuse me if this has been mentioned elsewhere...

It should come as no surprise that a rabidly fascist, anti-freedom of expression, Rev. Shaw Moore-wannabe, artistically impaired lout such as Rudy Giuliani is completely clueless about "contemporary" rock music. Still, my mouth hit the floor last night when I learned via Real Time w/Bill Maher that Rudy's official campaign theme song is "Life Is A Highway." It is further proof of Team Giuliani's staggering incompetence that they can't even properly vet their leitmotif.

Not only has "America's Mayor" chosen an especially hideous example of early '90s AOR drivel as the soundtrack to his campaign, but he has also outsourced the job of writing said drivel **gasp** to a Canadian! "Life is a Highway" was written 15+ years ago by the pride of Lynn Lake, Manitoba: Tom Cochrane. Does irony know no bounds? No, it most certainly does not. For Tom Cochrane had launched his star with the dread Red Rider.

Red Rider's "Lunatic Fringe" was unfortunately ubiquitous during the '80s. Just as it's popularity had begun to wane, the track was brought back to life Lazurus-like when featured prominently in February 1985's Vision Quest (a career low point for Harold Becker) OST and Miami Vice's season one episode Smuggler's Blues. Here are the words to Lunatic Fringe penned by Rudy Giuliani's Campaign Theme Song writer (and Canadian) Tom Cochrane:

Lunatic fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding
And you hold your meetings
We can hear you coming
We know what you're after
We're wise to you this time
We won't let you kill the laughter.

Lunatic fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far
We know you've got to blame someone
For your own confusion
But we're on guard this time
Against your final solution

We can hear you coming
(We can hear you coming)
No you're not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps
(We can hear the footsteps)
Way out along the walkway
Lunatic fringe
We know you're out there
But in these new dark ages
There will still be light

An eye for an eye;
Well before you go under...
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?

Can you hear me laughing?

AF

Happiness Is A Warm Gun?

I worked on a post for the entire afternoon. Best thing I've written in ages. One false key stroke and BANG! Gone forever. No return. I'm sick over it.

In times like these I've habitually turned to music's power to make everything alright (at least until the end of the song and as long as I'm the one picking it. Ha!) This is one of those times.

Marc Ribot is the best, most unique guitar player most of us have heard plenty yet never heard of. I first saw him play sometime in a fuzzy part of the last century when the Lounge Lizards were still going strong. Ribot has worked with a veritable smörgåsbord of uncompromising artists: Tom Waits (Rain Dogs), Elvis Costello (Spike), T-Bone Burnett (many projects), Marianne Faithfull, Solomon Burke (Soul Alive!), Cibo Matto, Feotus, David Sylvain, DJ Logic, John Zorn…Ribot is a also big fan of Albert Ayler as am I (“Witches and Devils”, anyone?). Here’s Marc Ribot’s take on the Beatles classic:



I really, really, really wanted the Breeders’ Tanya Donnelly version but no luck. Aside from her obvious gender-bending take on this Fab Four ditty. I admit I adore all things Tanya: Throwing Muses, The Breeders, Belly and, well, Tanya Donnelly herself…though not in that creepy-guy-living-in-
his-parent’s-basement-whittling-animals-in-the-dark-to-
send-to-her-management-company-while-silently-screaming-
every-word-to-“Feed-The-Tree”. Nope. That's not me. No, I haven’t talked to her in a long while but I first met Tanya at the dawn of her career. (I'm absolutely certain I have an original Doghouse cassette tucked away somewhere here in the bunker).

Here's Tanya inna in-store stylee:










Tanya is sweet, super-talented and a real trooper. I remember Belly once performing a special sound check show for their fans despite the fact she was sick as a dog. She has earned my highest possible compliment: Tanya has paved the way and continues to pave the way for so many (especially but not limited to female) artists to follow. Her first band Throwing Muses wrote the book on twisting tempos, weird chord structures and abstract but still highly personal lyrics. All of this written from a female and subtly feminist perspective. No Muses no Ani. No kidding. 'Nuff said.

Visit Tanya's Slumberland website. Buy Tanya's music: TD, Belly, Breeder’s, Throwing Muses. Catch her live if you can. Once you have, don't thank me. Thank Tanya instead.

AF