Demon Fuzz – “Past, Present and Future” from Afreaka! (1970)
I finally have a damned moment to myself and time enough to post.
This track is a real prize; a buried ember of the funk-rock era. And it’s disturbingly good despite its anonymity.
Not without its debts to Fela Kuti, Sly Stone and James Brown, it still sounds [...]
Entries from August 2008
August 31, 2008
Freaky-deaky
August 27, 2008
2 great songs, 1 great riff
Television – “Marquee Moon” from Marquee Moon (1977)
Interpol – “Obstacle 1” from Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)
Never underestimate the power of skinny white guys playing dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee, dee-dee. We offer two nervous New York rockers, masterpieces of the slow burn.
Damn that Television
If the rat from Ninja Turtles joined the band, they’d have to [...]
August 23, 2008
“I’d be a mineral deposit”
Mission of Burma – “(That’s When I Reach For My) Revolver” from Signals, Calls, & Marches (1981)
Mission of Burma – “Mica” from Vs. (1982)
Of a piece with Joy Division and the Constantines (our previous two posts), Boston’s recently reunited Mission of Burma played (and play) a stoic, no-nonsense, anthemic version of punk rock anthems. This [...]
August 20, 2008
“From the reservoirs/of our idiot tempers”
The Constantines – “Soon Enough” from Tournament of Hearts (2005)
Dang, I just remembered that these guys put out a new record a while back, and I’ve yet to pick it up. Their ‘03 and ‘05 releases, Shine A Light and Tournament of Hearts, were somewhat neglected by the critical establishment and by most of the [...]
August 17, 2008
“I tried to get to you/you treat me like this”
Joy Division – “Candidate” from Unknown Pleasures (1979)
I recently visited Manchester, England, and my thoughts the entire time I was in the city were consumed by Joy Division. The Manchester-based band released two albums in its lifetime before the suicide in 1980 of singer Ian Curtis. After Curtis’ death, the remaining members of [...]
August 11, 2008
“They dug for their coal ’til the land was forsaken/then they wrote it all down as the progress of man”
John Prine – “Paradise” from John Prine (1971)
I’ve had the great fortune to spend a lot of time this summer with my brothers, both of whom live states away. When we get together, we start playing guitars; when we play guitars, we eventually get to this song. “Paradise” packs in a lovely evocation of childhood [...]
August 7, 2008
Night of the Living Dead
Grateful Dead – “The Eleven” from Live/Dead (1969)
Y’all may well disown me for this….
My apologies to SWR-heads, but I’ve been away for a bit, listening to the world’s most overreacted-against psychedelic jammers. Live/Dead is the only Grateful Dead record I own, but man is it a doozy. This track and the epic “Dark Star” are [...]
