31 mar 2011

FLEET FOXES. "Grown Ocean"

Videoclip de "Grown Ocean", single de adelanto con imágenes de la grabación del nuevo y esperadísimo disco de FLEET FOXES.

24 mar 2011

Dancing barefoot (live) - The Celibate Rifles



Biography
by John Dougan
Playing stripped-down, loud, and fast Ramones-inspired guitar rock, the Celibate Rifles were one of the earliest Australian punk bands to emerge during the post-Radio Birdman/Saints era. Taking their cues from these Aussie bands, along with the American hard rock of the Stooges, MC5, and Blue Oyster Cult, the Rifles were led by the twin-guitar attack of Kent Steedman and Dave Morris and the deadpan baritone of vocalist Damien Lovelock. They exploded out of the gates in 1982 with a series of records (released in Australia only) fueled by high-speed guitars, wah-wah-strangulated solos, and cartoonish, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

Playing initially for crowds of hard rock-loving surfers, it didn't take long for the Rifles to develop a following. Outside of the continent, however, they were virtually unknown. That changed in 1985 with the release of Quintessentially Yours, a lengthy EP that was a collection of tracks from earlier albums. Although the Rifles didn't receive the attention of many lesser American and English bands, the releases kept coming, and they were all excellent. What didn't help was a seeming disinterest the band had in touring America. But when you're an Australian band, it's easy to see why: it's expensive, it takes forever to get there, and why bother when the records aren't getting the kind of reception they deserve? As a result, the Rifles last toured America in 1987.

As they continued recording and maturing, the Rifles were unafraid to take risks with their tried-and-true loud-and-fast sound. Soon, acoustic guitars entered the mix, tempos slowed, pianos tinkled in the background, and vocal harmonies were added. None of this increased technical skill and studio experimentation diluted the band's strengths (i.e., feral power); in fact, it may well have made the Rifles a better and more interesting band. Another development was the increased politicization and social consciousness of their material. No longer were they simply sarcastic funny boys. Rather, they were addressing serious political, environmental, and social issues, thanks to Lovelock's sharp, insightful lyrics, all without any condescension or simplistic rhetoric.

In 1989, Rifles albums were suddenly no longer available in American release, a fact that didn't help the band in its quest to develop an international following. As a result, their great album Blind Ear was available (when you could find it) only as a high-priced Aussie import. Also, there were signs that the Rifles were nearing the end: Steedman and Morris were playing around Sydney with other musicians and producing new bands; Lovelock released a solo album (It's a Wig, Wig, Wig, World) with members of the Church; and the time between Rifles releases seemed to grow longer. Another dispiriting sign was the 1992 release of Heaven on a Stick, which, despite a wonderful title, sounded tired and tossed off.

Fortunately, all this speculation turned out to be wrong, and in late 1994 the Rifles stormed back with Spaceman in a Satin Suit, an exhilarating return to form. A nonstop barrage of power, volume, and sharp songwriting, it shreds virtually every effort by the '90s generation of guitar-based alterna-rock careerists, and is easily the band's best record since Blind Ear. They may be a grizzled bunch of punk rockers, but there's nothing the Celibate Rifles couldn't teach young rock bands.

Sad Song (official) | The Cars

Adelanto de su nuevo trabajo

22 mar 2011

Nick Cave




Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Steve H
After goth pioneers the Birthday Party called it quits in 1983, singer/songwriter Nick Cave assembled the Bad Seeds, a post-punk supergroup featuring former Birthday Party guitarist Mick Harvey on drums, ex-Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Blixa Bargeld. With the Bad Seeds, Cave continued to explore his obsessions with religion, death, love, America, and violence with a bizarre, sometimes self-consciously eclectic hybrid of blues, gospel, rock, and arty post-punk, although in a more subdued fashion than his work with the Birthday Party. Cave also allowed his literary aspirations to come to the forefront; the lyrics are narrative prose, heavy on literary allusions and myth-making, and take some inspiration from Leonard Cohen. Cave's gloomy lyrics, dark musical arrangements, and deep baritone voice recall the albums of Scott Walker, who also obsessed over death and love with a frightening passion. However, Cave brings a hefty amount of post-punk experimentalism to Walker's epic dark pop.

Cave released his first album with the Bad Seeds, From Her to Eternity, in 1984, which contained a noteworthy cover of Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto," foreshadowing much of Cave's style and subject matter on the follow-up The Firstborn Is Dead. Kicking Against the Pricks, an all-covers album, broke the band in England with the help of "The Singer," which hit number one on the U.K. independent charts. The album also strengthened Cave's reputation as an original interpreter and a vocal stylist of note. Following 1986's Your Funeral...My Trial, Cave took a two-year hiatus from recording, partially to appear in Wim Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire, and then returned with Tender Prey, which featured Cramps guitarist Kid Congo Powers and Cave's strongest vocal performance up to that point.

Cave's productivity picked up immensely over the next two years after he kicked a heroin habit. He had two books (1988's King Ink, a collection of lyrics, plays, and prose, and 1989's And the Ass Saw the Angel, a novel) published; appeared in the 1989 Australian film Ghosts...of the Civil Dead as a prisoner; recorded a soundtrack to the film with Harvey and Bargeld; and released 1990's The Good Son, his most relaxed, quiet album. Cave received his due as one of the leading figures in alternative rock when he was invited to perform on the 1994 edition of the Lollapalooza tour to promote his Let Love In album. Early in 1996, he released Murder Ballads, a collection of songs about murder. Murder Ballads became Cave's most commercially successful album to date, and, with typical perversity, he followed it with the introspective and personal The Boatman's Call in early 1997. A spoken word release, Secret Life of the Love Song, followed in 1999.

Two years later, a rejuvenated Cave teamed up with the Bad Seeds once again for the piano-laden No More Shall We Part. Nocturama was released in 2003, and the double-album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus followed by the end of 2004. After touring in support of the album throughout 2005, Cave embarked on a new project called Grinderman with Bad Seeds members Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, and Jim Sclavunos. The group's self-titled debut was released in 2007, the same year Cave was inducted into Australia's ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2008, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds released Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Catherine Wheel


Biography
by Andy Kellman
By using their influences as a mere launching pad and consistently developing their many strengths, Catherine Wheel was able to outlast all of their early peers. With their initial singles and first album, the band from East Anglia fit snugly with the remainder of bands that the British press eventually labeled as shoegazers, a short-lived sub-scene of bands that were characterized by an inactive stage presence, loads of effects pedals, and buried vocals. However, the always tuneful Catherine Wheel survived by refusing to repeat themselves and remaining accessible to their constantly swelling fanbase through touring like dogs. The band's extensive discography plays like a how-to guide for bands that aspire to do most things imaginable within the domain of bass/drum/guitar/vocals with enthusiasm and sharp skill. They might not have reached the level of popularity that they aimed for, but their career was one that most bands would commit felonies to experience.

Formed by Rob Dickinson (vocals and guitar), Brian Futter (guitar), Dave Hawes (bass), and Neil Sims (drums) in 1990, Catherine Wheel debuted on the tiny Norwich independent label Wilde Club with the She's My Friend and Painful Thing singles. Though inspired by the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen and the House of Love, even the band's earliest recordings strayed from being derivative. Those singles earned them a spot on John Peel's BBC show. One listener was famed producer and "non-musician" Brian Eno, who was delighted enough by what he heard to phone the band's manager up and express admiration. Eno, who had his Opal label at the time, threw his hat into the ring of people wanting to release the band's future material. Since the tiny Opal imprint didn't fit into the big plans the band had for themselves, they declined to sign on with the bald wonder. Creation boss Alan McGee was another interested major figure. Since McGee was about to become knee-deep in debt, thanks to the extensive costs of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, the band passed on the pre-Oasis label. Fontana had the ability to market the band on a wider scale and the label's licensing deal with Mercury in the U.S. made them more attractive.

Signed to Fontana, the band set about wrangling a producer for their debut full-length. Being huge fans of Talk Talk's sonically expansive records, they contacted the band's associate, Tim Friese-Greene. To their pleasant surprise, Friese-Greene had bought the Wild Club singles and needed no convincing to work with them. Friese-Greene became the fifth Wheel as much as he was the fifth member of Talk Talk, playing a crucial role in sound development, production, and adding his trademark keyboards when necessary. Ferment gained the band a small following in their native land and abroad on the strength of the epic "Black Metallic," which remained the band's most recognized song throughout their career.

The cinematic Chrome followed in 1993, toughening the band's sound and providing increased exposure on U.S. alternative radio through "Crank." Dickinson's increased confidence as a singer allowed them more emotional depth. Another strong alliance was forged with engineer Gil Norton during the recording sessions. As always, extensive touring ensued and the band's heavier edge on stage was captured on 1995's Happy Days, which hardcore fans dismissed for being too flat-out rock for their tastes. Neo-metal single "Waydown" was the radio staple in the U.S., giving the band more exposure than ever. At this point, the band was criticized for abandoning Britain, which was something of a fallacy. Although they would routinely circle the U.S. multiple times while touring, only in relative terms did it appear that they were neglecting their homeland.

Meanwhile, Catherine Wheel had been stockpiling spectacular B-sides that only rabid collectors and those who would listen to their tales of depleted wallets knew about. To provide a stop-gap between albums, Like Cats and Dogs was released in 1996, which only contained a small fraction of those extras. Ingeniously, those that were selected were sequenced in a manner that resembled a regular studio album; the immediacy and experimentalism of the hodgepodge made for the band's best full-length in the eyes of several fans.

Peeling back from the aural onslaught of Happy Days, the band exposed more of their atmospheric knack for 1997's Adam and Eve (released by Chrysalis in the U.K.), which was also designed to play as a single piece. Frustrated with the current generation's aversion to listening to a single record through its entirety, they went so far as to bring in Bob Ezrin to give it a classic front-to-back feel; they obviously liked the result of Like Cats and Dogs and the result of Adam and Eve was just as pleasing. Despite having numerous radio friendly songs on the album, sales for the record stalled outside of the usual pack and those catching on by word of mouth and more gigging. Not pleased with Mercury, Catherine Wheel abandoned ship prior to the bloodshed that ensued when Mercury's distributor Polygram merged with Universal.

Creatively stalled by not knowing where to go next, it took a while for Catherine Wheel to come up with 2000's Wishville, which found release through the band's new label, Columbia. Dave Hawes was relieved of his bass duties prior to recording sessions; since he was the most accessible and affable member of the group (and an excellent musician), the announcement of his departure was met with much scrutiny by their fans. The band had their reasons in sacking Hawes and the bass lines for Wishville were handled by Dickinson, Futter, and Friese-Greene. Ben Ellis was eventually brought on as full-time bassist. Wishville gained noticeable play on alternative radio, but it translated into the usual amount of sales that the band was accustomed to. Frustrated with having all the tools to be a huge platinum act for nearly a decade, the band went on hiatus after touring.

Peter Case


Biography
by Denise Sullivan
After his tenure in the proto-power pop band the Nerves and following the dissolution of his early-'80s Los Angeles rock & roll band the Plimsouls, Peter Case launched a career as an influential American singer/songwriter specializing in fingerpicked acoustic guitar and redemptive story-songs about society's outcasts and drifters, delivered in a uniquely soulful folk-rock style. Case's secret weapon is his powerhouse voice; combined with his imaginative and visionary songwriting and his ability to blow real harmonica licks, he's well respected among his peers and a perennial favorite among serious listeners. By the turn of the century, longevity was working in his favor as he continued to set the bar for contemporary singer/songwriter music.

Case grew up in the small town of Hamburg (near Buffalo), NY. Like any number of young men of his generation, Elvis Presley and the Beatles made a profound impression on him, but he was equally moved by the folk and blues sounds of Mississippi John Hurt, Leadbelly, and Woody Guthrie. As a teenager, he veered from rock bands to the troubadour's life, playing coffeehouses and busking for change. In 1974, he arrived in San Francisco and worked as a street musician in a scene that included Allen Ginsberg and the Cockettes, among others. By 1976, he had joined the Nerves at the invitation of Jack Lee; the meeting led to a move to L.A. and the formation of the guitar-driven soul-punk band the Plimsouls in 1979. The group found success with the power pop standard "A Million Miles Away," though shortly after they disbanded. Case debuted with Peter Case in 1986. The self-titled album was a collection of what Case called "tribal folk," produced by T-Bone Burnett and including collaborations with Burnett, Case's first wife, Victoria Williams, and musicians like John Hiatt and Roger McGuinn sitting in.

Case was among the handful of rockers who had honed his acoustic songs in clubs, helping to launch the so-called "unplugged" movement and, later, the singer/songwriter explosion of the '90s. In 1989, he released The Man with the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar, again with the assistance of choice musicians like David Hidalgo, Ry Cooder, and Benmont Tench. In a 1989 Rolling Stone interview, Bruce Springsteen cited Case as the songwriter he was listening to most at the time. For 1992's Six-Pack of Love, Case chucked the folk aesthetic for something more rock-oriented, but the collection flopped, as did his liaison with Geffen. Galvanizing his forces, he self-released Sings Like Hell (1993), a stark collection of traditional folk songs, favorite covers, and originals, recorded with Marvin Etzioni in a Los Angeles living room. The bold move earned him a new recording contract with Vanguard, where he came on strong with Torn Again (1995), a set of visionary songs with potency reminiscent of Blue Guitar.

In 1996, the Plimsouls re-formed for some reunion shows and a recording session that yielded Kool Trash (Shaky City, 1998). Case remained active on the acoustic scene and hosted an evening for songwriters at Santa Monica's revived Ash Grove folk club. Between records for Vanguard -- Full Service No Waiting (1997) and Flying Saucer Blues (2000) -- Case curated a musical program for the Getty Museum and performed Beatles songs with Sir George Martin live at the Hollywood Bowl. In spring of 2001, he produced Avalon Blues, a Grammy-nominated tribute to his childhood hero, Mississippi John Hurt, featuring contributions from Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin, and Steve Earle. That same year he self-released Thank You St. Jude, a collection of songs from his catalog recorded in solo acoustic arrangements with fiddle. Fall 2002 saw release of his ninth solo album, Beeline, which combined his rock-folk style with new rhythms and prepared guitar sounds.

In 2004, Case celebrated 20 years as a solo artist (and ten years with Vanguard Records) with the release of the compilation Who's Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile, featuring highlights from his catalog there, as well as three new recordings. In 2005, the Plimsouls performed another series of reunion shows; they remain on the touring circuit. In 2006, a three-disc, 47-track tribute to Case's songs, A Case for Case, featured versions of his songs recorded by fellow musicians Richard Buckner, James McMurtry, and Amy Rigby, among others. It was only a matter of time before Case would enter the spoken word/literature realm: turning his poetic visions into a six-song suite, Bomb Light Prayer Vigil was released by the literary audio magazine Verb in early 2006. Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John appeared in 2007. Following open-heart surgery, Case returned to life and music with renewed vigor, and released the raw and rocking Wig! in 2010.

Carter USM - While You Were Out

Repasando los 90 s

21 mar 2011

Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils - "Birds of Prey"

El sonido no es muy bueno, pero me encanta la canción y el disco, Altamente recomendado!!!!!

Ian Moore and The Lossy Coils "El Sonido Nuevo"
Seattle-based rocker Ian Moore is already a studio veteran as he constructs an excellent album with The Lossy Coils, assisted by bassist Matt Harris (Oranger, Posies) and drummer Kyle Schneider. Blasting out the first song "Secondhand Store" is about the Austin SXSW festival where every hipster is trying to find a payoff. Another gem here "Birds Of Prey" is a perfect roots pop song that fans of Old 97s will appreciate. “The album is a retrenching in the face of a diffuse pop culture landscape,” says Moore, as his jaded take on pop culture is enhanced by some excellent blues riffs added to this song.

A bit more traditional is "Belle, My Butterfly" and on "Newfound Station" the shuffling rhythm and solid musicianship recall Wilco's best moments. But power pop fans will flip over "Silver Station" which brings to mind the best Jason Falkner tune he never wrote. The entire album is full of top shelf melodies and Ian's guitar work is exceptional. This is by far the best alt. country pop album I've heard this year.

19 mar 2011

You Don't Love Me Yet - The Vulgar Boatmen


by Jason Ankeny (allmusic.com)
Roots-pop combo the Vulgar Boatmen was led by the singing/songwriting team of Robert Ray and Dale Lawrence; living in Gainesville, FL and Indianapolis, IN, respectively, the duo collaborated primarily by mail, each rehearsing with local musicians (some of them later recruited for recording sessions and tours as well).

Jim Bays, Carey Crane and Michael Derry rounded out the Vulgar Boatmen line-up on the group's 1989 debut You and Your Sister, produced by Walter Salas-Humara of the Silos (whose Bob Rupe also guested on the record); J.D. Foster, Jonathan Isley and Helen Kirklin were listed as official members for the follow-up, 1992's much-acclaimed Please Panic. Opposite Sex appeared three years later; Lawrence additionally played keyboards in the Mysteries of Life.

17 mar 2011

Yello - I love you (1983)



Y este se lo dedico a la Nicky , li pots dir Manel ?

Es magistral , a esto ahora les llamarían freakis y nosotros sólo les llamamos techno pop, ya que no nos parecía tan extraño , lo que era es divertido!! . Creo que no lo había visto nunca, me encanta la nena diciendo I love you.

Si quereis os vais al minuto 1:40 i mira como bailan este par

Estoy montando otro blog , pero esta en fase de obras !!

Mira que dice un fan en el you tube del clip.

"Still luv it.

Yello is the only reason to be proud to be a swiss!

thx4up"

The Romantics - What I Like About You (original version)


Glorioso !!!

The Chords - Maybe Tomorrow 1980


Gran single, otra época !

THE CARS





Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine (allmusic.com)
Blondie may have had a string of number one hits and Talking Heads may have won the hearts of the critics, but the Cars were the most successful American new wave band to emerge in the late '70s. With its sleek, mechanical pop/rock, the band racked up a string of platinum albums and Top 40 singles that made it one of the most popular American rock & roll bands of the late '70s and early '80s. While they were more commercially oriented than their New York peers, the Cars were nevertheless inspired by proto-punk, garage rock, and bubblegum pop. The difference was in packaging. Where their peers were as equally inspired by art as music, the Cars were strictly a rock & roll band, and while their music occasionally sounded clipped and distant, they had enough attitude to cross over to album rock radio, which is where they made their name. Nevertheless, the Cars remained a new wave band, picking up cues from the Velvet Underground, David Bowie, and Roxy Music. Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr's vocals uncannily recalled Lou Reed's deadpan delivery, while the band's insistent, rhythmic pulse was reminiscent of Berlin-era Iggy Pop. Furthermore, the Cars followed Roxy Music's lead regarding LP cover art, in their case having artist Alberto Vargas design a sexy pinup-style illustration for the cover of their sophomore album, Candy-O. Similar cover art remained the Cars' primary visual attraction until 1984, when the group made a series of striking videos to accompany the singles from Heartbeat City. The videos for "You Might Think," "Magic," and "Drive" became MTV staples, sending the Cars to near-superstar status. Instead of following through with their success, the Cars slowly faded away, quietly breaking up after releasing one final album in 1987.

Ric Ocasek (guitar, vocals) and Ben Orr (bass, vocals) had been collaborators for several years before forming the Cars in 1976. Ocasek began playing guitar and writing songs when he was ten. After briefly attending Antioch College and Bowling Green State University, he dropped out of school and moved to Cleveland where he met Orr, who had led the house band on the TV show Upbeat as a teenager. The two began writing songs and led bands in Cleveland, New York City, Woodstock, and Ann Arbor before settling in Cambridge, MA in the early '70s. In 1972, the pair was the core of a folk trio named Milkwood. The band released an album on Paramount Records in late 1972, which was ignored; the record featured keyboards by a session musician named Greg Hawkes. By 1974, Ocasek and Orr had formed Cap'n Swing, which featured Elliot Easton on lead guitar. Cap'n Swing became a popular concert attraction in Boston, but the group broke up in 1975. Ocasek, Orr, and Easton formed a new band called the Cars in 1976 with former Modern Lovers drummer Dave Robinson and keyboardist Hawkes.

Early in 1977, the Cars sent a demo tape of "Just What I Needed" to the influential Boston radio station WBCN and it quickly became the station's most-requested song. For the remainder of 1977 the Cars played Boston clubs, and by the end of the year they signed with Elektra Records. The group's eponymous debut album appeared in the summer of 1978 and it slowly built a following thanks to the hit singles "Just What I Needed" (number 27), "My Best Friend's Girl" (number 35), and "Good Times Roll" (number 41). The Cars stayed on the charts for over two and a half years, delaying the release of the group's second album, Candy-O. It would eventually sell over six million copies.

Recorded early in 1979, Candy-O wasn't released until later that summer. The album was an instant hit, quickly climbing to number three on the charts and going platinum two months after its release. The record launched the Top Ten hit "Let's Go" and sent the band to the arena rock circuit. Perhaps as a reaction to the Cars' quick success, the group explored more ambitious territory on 1980's Panorama. Though the album wasn't as big a hit as its predecessors, it nevertheless peaked at number five and went platinum. Before recording their fourth album, several bandmembers pursued extracurricular interests, with Ocasek earning a reputation as a successful new wave producer for his work with Suicide and Romeo Void (he even produced some demos for Iggy Pop). The Cars released their fourth album, Shake It Up, in the fall of 1981, and it quickly went platinum, with its title track becoming the group's first Top Ten single.

Following the success of Shake It Up, the band recorded the soundtrack to the short film Chapter-X and then took an extended leave, with Ocasek releasing his solo album Beatitude in 1982 and Hawkes issuing Niagara Falls the following year; Ocasek also produced the debut album from the hardcore punk band Bad Brains. The Cars reconvened in 1983 to record their fifth album, Heartbeat City, which was released in early 1984. Supported by a groundbreaking, computer-animated video, the album's first single, "You Might Think," became a Top Ten hit, sending Heartbeat City to number three on the album charts. Three other Top 40 singles -- "Magic" (number 12), "Drive" (number three), and "Hello Again" (number 20) -- followed later that year, and the record went triple platinum in the summer of 1985. At the end of the year, the group released Greatest Hits, which featured two new hit singles, "Tonight She Comes" and "I'm Not the One."

The Cars were on hiatus for much of 1985 and 1986, during which time Easton released Change No Change and Orr issued The Lace. During 1987, the group completed its seventh album, Door to Door. The album was a moderate hit upon its summer release in 1987, launching the single "You Are the Girl," which peaked at number 17. Door to Door had seemed half-hearted, sparking speculation that the group was on the verge of splitting up. The Cars announced in February of 1988 that they had indeed broken up. All of the members pursued solo careers, but only Ocasek released albums with regularity. By the '90s, he'd also become a much sought-after alt-rock producer, having worked with with the likes of Weezer, Bad Religion, Black 47, Hole, Guided by Voices, No Doubt, Nada Surf, Johnny Bravo, D Generation, Possum Dixon, Jonathan Richman, the Wannadies, and former Suicide members Alan Vega and Martin Rev. Easton later reappeared with Creedence Clearwater Revisited, while sadly, Orr lost a battle with pancreatic cancer and died on October 3, 2000.

After Orr's passing, a few new Cars releases appeared on the marketplace, including the concert DVD Live (taped originally in Germany during 1979, and featuring an interview with the group shortly before Orr's passing), a double-disc deluxe edition of their classic self-titled debut album, and a more extensive hits collection titled Complete Greatest Hits. By early 2002, Ocasek was at work putting together a Cars documentary film, comprised of backstage footage and unreleased promo clips that the band filmed itself. He also continued working on solo material, releasing Nexterday in 2005 to warm reviews. Meanwhile, Greg Hawkes and Elliot Easton teamed up with Todd Rundgren to form the New Cars, a pop supergroup whose repertoire included Rundgren's solo songs, the Cars' past hits, and some new material. The New Cars toured with Blondie in 2006 and released one record, the concert album It's Alive!, before Rundgren resumed his solo career the following year. By 2010, the Cars officially reunited for the first time in two decades, with the late Orr serving as the reunion's sole absentee. Working with producer Jacknife Lee, they took up temporary residence in a recording studio in Millbrook, NY, emerging with 2011's Move Like This.

8 mar 2011

Mitch Easter, "Every Word Means No"


by Jason Ankeny (allmusic)
To rock audiences, Jim Carroll's crowning achievement was the near-hit "People Who Died," a brutally emotional punk record saluting the victims of the New York drug culture. In truth, however, Carroll's artistic legacy was considerably more complex and far-ranging -- an acclaimed diarist, poet, actor, and spoken word performer, his formative years even served as the subject of the film The Basketball Diaries.

The product of a working-class background, Carroll was born and raised in New York City. He was a highly touted basketball prospect, and Jack Kerouac's On the Road inspired him to begin keeping a journal at the age of 12; later published in 1978 as The Basketball Diaries, his early writings vividly chronicled his teenage addiction to heroin, which led him into a life of crime and hustling. By the time he was 16, Carroll was a published poet; 1973's Living at the Movies further established his reputation as a prodigy and funded a move to Northern California, where he was finally able to shed his drug habit.

Inspired by the success of his friend Patti Smith, who also married a background in poetry with a career in rock music, Carroll began writing songs; in 1978, backed by the San Francisco band Amsterdam (comprised of guitarists Terrell Winn and Brian Linsley, bassist Steve Linsley, and drummer Wayne Woods), he cut a handful of demos, and was signed to Rolling Stones Records. Produced by label head Earl McGrath, the Jim Carroll Band's debut album, Catholic Boy, appeared in 1980; the subject of significant critical acclaim, it featured "People Who Died," the group's definitive moment.

After a move back to New York and the replacement of Terrell Winn and Brian Linsley by Paul Sanchez and Jon Tiven, the Carroll Band returned in 1982 with Dry Dreams, followed by 1984's I Write Your Name, which received lackluster reviews. With his three-record contract fulfilled, Carroll dismissed the group members and resumed his prose and poetry work. After an appearance in the 1985 film Tuff Turf, he published The Book of Nods in 1986 and Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries 1971-1973 a year later. During the remainder of the '80s, Carroll balanced his poetry and prose material while writing tracks for other artists such as Blue Öyster Cult (Club Ninja) and Boz Scaggs (Other Roads). He also appeared on spoken word albums by John Giorno's Dial-a-Poem Poets.

As the 1990s dawned, Carroll was frequently approached to return to music, but he remained firmly dedicated to his spoken word work; his first solo album was Praying Mantis (1991), a collection of spoken word performances, not new songs. While he occasionally performed as a musician, his primary focus remained his literary pursuits. Notably, Carroll was one of the first poet/rockers to break down the barriers between poetry/spoken word and mainstream rock music. He participated in various readings beginning in the mid-'80s, but his 1994 performance on MTV'sUnplugged was most moving, with a soon to be legendary poem, "8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain," a mesmerizing tribute.

In 1993 he published Fear of Dreaming: The Selected Poems of Jim Carroll. In 1995, both The Basketball Diaries and the short story Curtis' Charm were adapted into films; he also contributed lyrics and vocals to Rancid's multi-platinum release ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995). A year later Carroll also contributed to the benefit release Home Alive: The Art of Self-Defense, and in 1997 Carroll was one of a number of high-profile writers, musicians, and actors who contributed to the Kerouac tribute album Kicks Joy Darkness, where, backed by Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, and Anton Sanko, he read "Woman." The year 1998 was monumental for Carroll. He released a brand-new collection of poetry in his new book, Void of Course, as well as returning to rock in his own cathartic way with the release of his first album in nearly 15 years, Pools of Mercury. This combined his classic wounded poetry with song, noting his collaborations with Sanko and Kaye.

In 1999, a comprehensive tribute release entitled Put Your Tongue to the Rail: The Philly Compilation for Catholic Children showcased 25 local artists from Philadelphia empowered by the work of Carroll. Two years later, Carroll issued the Runaway EP, which featured live cuts of material from Pools of Mercury and an eclectic cover of Del Shannon's pop hit as the EP's namesake. It turned out to be his last major release, however. He died in September 2009 of a heart attack.

Bryan Estepa - Ball and Chain

Recomendado el último trabajo de Bryan Estepa - vessels- Aquí una muestra

3 mar 2011

David Lowery - Raise 'Em Up On Honey

Presentando nuevo disco:

Joe King Carrasco - Buena


Biography
by William Ruhlmann
Texas native Joe "King" Carrasco has devoted his career to re-creating the Tex-Mex, Farfisa organ rock & roll sound of such '60s groups as the Sir Douglas Quintet and Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs. After playing in a succession of bands around Texas in the late '60s and early '70s, Carrasco founded his band El Molino in 1976 and recorded Tex-Mex Rock-Roll in 1978. (The album was reissued by ROIR in 1989.) By 1979 he had formed the Crowns and was calling his music "nuevo wavo," playing especially in New York, where he appeared on-stage in a cape and crown. He was signed to the U.K. Stiff label and Joe Boyd's Hannibal label in the U.S., and released Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns in 1980. By 1982 he had moved up to major label MCA for Synapse Gap, followed by Party Weekend (1983). These missed the charts, however, and although Carrasco has recorded since, turning increasingly political in the meantime, his work has been harder to find. Bandido Rock (1987) on Rounder was credited to Joe "King" Carrasco y las Coronas.

Paul Carrack - Over My Shoulde


Biography
by Jason Ankeny(allmusic)
Paul Carrack was pop music's ultimate journeyman. A vocalist and keyboardist who enjoyed considerable success over the course of his lengthy career while in the service of bands ranging from Ace to Squeeze to Mike + the Mechanics, his finest work often came at the expense of his own identity as a performer; indeed, of the many big hits on which the unassuming singer was prominently featured, only one, 1987's "Don't Shed a Tear," bore his own name. Carrack was born April 22, 1951, in Sheffield, England; he joined the pub rock group Ace in 1972, eventually writing and singing their debut single, "How Long." After reaching the Top 20 in the group's native Britain, the record hit the number-three position in the U.S.; however, after subsequent material failed to match the success of "How Long," Ace disbanded in 1977, and Carrack signed on with country artist Frankie Miller.

He soon resurfaced in Roxy Music, appearing on the LPs Manifesto and Flesh and Blood before releasing his solo debut, Nightbird, in 1980. Carrack next joined Squeeze, replacing keyboardist Jools Holland; in addition to contributing to the group's 1981 creative pinnacle East Side Story, he also assumed lead vocal duties on the single "Tempted," their best-remembered hit. However, Carrack's stay in Squeeze was brief, and after working with Nick Lowe he again attempted to forge a solo career with the 1982 LP Suburban Voodoo, cracking the U.S. Top 40 with the single "I Need You." A tenure as a sideman with Eric Clapton followed, and in 1985 he joined Genesis' Mike Rutherford in his side project Mike + the Mechanics. Their hits include "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and "All I Need Is a Miracle."

While remaining a rather anonymous figure at home, Carrack achieved a higher level of visibility in America as a result of Mike + the Mechanics' success; subsequently, his third solo album, One Good Reason, proved to be by far his most popular effort to date, with the single "Don't Shed a Tear" reaching the Top Ten. Another tenure with the Mechanics followed, and with the title track of 1988's The Living Years, the group scored their first number-one hit. After the 1989 Carrack solo LP Groove Approved, Mike + the Mechanics issued 1991's Word of Mouth, which failed to repeat the chart performance of its predecessors; by 1993, Carrack was again a member of Squeeze, appearing on the album Some Fantastic Place and also resuming lead chores for a re-recording of "Tempted." However, he was once again back in the Mechanics' fold for 1995's Beggar on a Beach of Gold; the solo Blue Views was issued the next year, followed in 1997 by Beautiful World. Satisfy My Soul was issued in 2000, his first album for Compass Records. Carrack spent the first half the 2000s touring, both as a solo act and as the frontman in Mike + the Mechanics, releasing Groovin' in 2001 and It Ain't Over in 2003. A holiday album appeared in 2005, followed in 2007 by Old, New, Borrowed and Blue. After 2008's knowingly titled I Know That Name, Carrack took a detour on 2010's A Different Hat, an album cut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Marc Bolan \ Children Of The Revolution \ Elton John & Ringo Starr

woooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!

2 mar 2011



Biography
by Bruce Eder (allmusic)
Caravan was one of the more formidable progressive rock acts to come out of England in the 1960s, though they were never much more than a very successful cult band at home, and, apart from a brief moment in 1975, barely a cult band anywhere else in the world. They only ever charted one album in their first six years of activity, but they made a lot of noise in the English rock press, and their following has been sufficiently loyal and wide to keep their work in print for extended periods during the 1970s, the 1990s, and in the new century.

Caravan grew out of the breakup of the Wilde Flowers, a Canterbury-based group formed in 1964 as an R&B-based outfit with a jazzy-edge. The Wilde Flowers had a lineup of Brian Hopper on guitar and saxophone, Richard Sinclair on rhythm guitar, Hugh Hopper playing bass, and Robert Wyatt on the drums. Kevin Ayers passed through the lineup as a singer, and Richard Sinclair was succeeded on rhythm guitar by Pye Hastings in 1965. Wyatt subsequently became the lead singer, succeeded by Richard Coughlan on drums. Hugh Hopper left and was replaced by Dave Lawrence then Richard Sinclair, and Dave Sinclair, Richard's cousin, came in on keyboards. Finally, in 1966, Wyatt and Ayers formed Soft Machine and the Wilde Flowers dissolved. In the wake of the earlier group's dissolution, Hastings, Richard Sinclair, Dave Sinclair, and Richard Coughlan formed Caravan in January of 1968.

The group stood at first somewhat in the shadow of Soft Machine, which became an immediate favorite on the London club scene and in the press. This worked in Caravan's favor, however, as the press and club owners began taking a long look at them because of the members' previous connections. A gig at the Middle Earth Club in London led to their being spotted by a music publishing executive named Ian Ralfini, which resulted in a publishing deal with Robbins Music and then, by extension, a recording contract with MGM Records on their Verve Records imprint, which the American label was trying to establish in England. Their self-titled debut album was a hybrid of jazz and psychedelia, but also enough of a virtuoso effort to rate as a serious progressive rock album at a time when that genre wasn't yet fully established; along with the the Nice albums on Immediate and The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp, it planted the roots of progressive rock.

The Caravan album never sold in serious numbers, and for much of 1968 and early 1969, the members were barely able to survive -- at one point they were literally living in tents. And then, to add insult to injury, the record disappeared as MGM's British operation shut down in late 1968. Out of that chaos, however, the group got a new manager in Terry King and, with the help of a fledgling producer named David Hitchcock (who'd seen the band in concert), a contract with England's Decca Records, which was a major label at the time. Their Decca debut album, If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, released in early 1970, was a major step forward and, indeed, a milestone in their history, establishing the mix of humor and progressive sounds, including classical, jazz, and traditional English influences that would characterize the best of their work over the next six years. Moreover, with Decca's then-formidable distribution behind it, the album got into stores and was heard and even sold well on university campuses.

Suddenly, Caravan was an up-and-coming success on the college concert circuit, even making an appearance on British television's Top of the Pops. With national exposure and a growing audience,

The See See - Keep Your Head

Os apetece un viajecito?

1 mar 2011

Elvis Costello - Veronica


Esta canción en una joya que aparece en el álbum Spike , una de mis favoritas de Mr.Costello. Me encanta la melodía, la estrofa y el beat del bajo con el ritmo de la caja de la batería. Un diez.

Joe Jackson - I'm The Man


Este video es una caña , época dorada de la new wave en las islas con un Joe Jackson pletórico !!