SOUND CITY

Sound City is a documentary about the legendary recording studio in Los Angeles, California. It's a story about sound and the process of making music the right way. Produced and directed by Dave Grohl, Sound City centers around the unique Neve recording console and the sounds it was able to produce. Opened in 1969, some of rock and rolls greatest albums were recorded inside Sound City from such bands as Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cheap Trick, Johnny Cash, Grateful Dead, Santana, Rick Springfield (yes, and you know you love it), Rage Against the Machine and on and on. Dave Grohl has an intimate connection to Sound City as Nirvana's legendary album Nevermind was recorded there.

The movie has a two part feel with the first half taking viewers thru the history of the studio, what made it so special and what led to its eventual closing in 2011. The second half of the movie centers around Grohl's purchase of the Neve from Sound City, installing it in his own recording studio and gathering together a cast of musicians connected to Sound City to record an album of new songs thru the legendary console.

Sound City is full of interviews from legendary musicians providing viewers insight into the recording process.  Watching this movie will make you want to listen to more music. Watching this movie will make you appreciate the process it takes to make the music you listen to. Watching this movie will make you listen a little deeper next time you put on those headphones.  Watching this movie will make you thankful for places like Sound City Studios and people like Dave Grohl.

SOUND CITY official trailer

TREETOP FLYERS-Glasslands, Brooklyn NY

Treetop Flyers
Glasslands, Brooklyn NY
6/27

The Treetop Flyers are a five piece British band (4 Brits and 1 American) that create a heavy dose of 70's southern California americana soul. Named after a Stephen Stills song, they blend beautiful harmonies that touch on CSNY, Eagles, America, Gram Parsons and even a little Fleetwood Mac.

They arrived at Glasslands warehouse/artspace touring behind their beautiful debut 'The Mountain Moves'. From first listen, you will become obsessed with 'Things Will Change', which could easily be mistaken for a song from America. They stretch out a bit as 'Houses are Burning' and 'Picture Show'  sound like a country fried 'Don't Fear the Reaper', while 'Waiting on You', 'Roses in the Yard' and 'Making Time'  blend mellow country soul. 'Postcards' adds a little doo-wap and album closer 'Is it all Worth it' draws some inspiration from Mumford and Sons. Of all their songs, 'Haunted House' was the one that stood out most during their hour long set tonight. Clocking in at 6:52 on cd, they stretched it out to well over 8 minutes live driving us to peaks and valleys before closing it out in a long frenzied finish. The Treetop Flyers are blessed with an enormous amount of talent. Their music may seem oddly familiar yet it is new and fresh. 'The Mountain Moves' is a classic FULL album that should be the soundtrack for your next road trip. It sounds equally as cool sitting on your porch on a beautiful sunny day as it does watching a storm roll in. They've got talent to spare. Considering the fact that the next concert they would be playing after tonight would be Glastonbury, I'm sure this is just the beginning of great things to come for the Treetop Flyers.

Things Will Change-Official Video Haunted House-Live from WFUV, Fordham University Radio Houses Are Burning-Live

PALMA VIOLETS-Music Hall of Williamsburg

PALMA VIOLETS, THE GUARDS
Music Hall of Williamsburg-Brooklyn, NY
May 9

my iphone photo

British buzz band Palma Violets came to play MHW tonight and a birthday party broke out. Led by duel lead singers Chilli Jesson and Sam Fryer, the band blazed thru their much hyped debut album 180 which blends garage, soul, psychedelic and rock into epic sing along anthems. The Palma Violets built a reputation as a great live band thru weekly shows at small art studio in south London called Studio 180. Only those 'in the know' found the door leading to these parties but word quickly spread and next thing you know Zane Lowe is spinning their single 'Step up for the Cool Cats' on his BBC1 Radio Show, NME chooses 'Best of Friends' as track of the year for 2012 and they get signed to Rough Trade records all before putting out their first full length.

They certainly lived up to their reputation of a great live band tonight. Chilli is one of the more enjoyable lead singers I have seen in a long time. With a youthful exuberance and a badass attitude, he owns the stage and leads the band swinging around his bass guitar. The band, which also includes fantastic drummer Will Doyle and keyboard player Peter Mayhew, constantly engaged the crowd, bringing everyone closer together almost shrinking the size of the venue so we felt as if we were in one of their weekly Studio 180 parties. Songs like 'Best of Friends', 'Step up for the Cool Cats', 'We Found Love', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and 'Chicken Dippers' all got kicked up a few notches. One guy, feeling the power of the Palma Violets live, thrusts his crutches into the air as if say, 'I CAN WALK'! For the encore, the band invited opening bands and friends on stage while they presented Chilli with a cake for his birthday. As to be expected, cake frosting started flying around the stage followed by beer and anything else they could get their hands on before breaking into a cover of The Hot Nasties 'Invasion of the Tribbles' leading everyone singing along with them 'oh yeah! oh yeah! oh yeah!' A messy birthday party broke out on stage and we all became part of it. So goes a Palma Violets show. Happy Birthday Chilli. You and your band have a great year ahead of you. Thanks for a great show. 

Best of Friends-from SXSW (Thanks rincewind1013 for posting on youtube)

KEXP-full performance (Thanks KEXP for posting on youtube)

FU MANCHU-Bowery Ballroom NYC

FU MANCHU, BLOODNSTUFF, VAGINA PANTHER
BOWERY BALLROOM-NYC
APRIL 19

my iphone photo

Fu Manchu spent the month of April blazing a trail across the United States re-visiting their classic 1997 album 'The Action Is Go' and tonight they brought the rock to the Bowery Ballroom. I am constantly amazed that this band isn't bigger than they are. They have been putting out music since 1990 and their catalog consists of 10 solid studio albums. When explaining their sound, the words 'stoner rock' are always included. Listening to their lyrics and looking over any of their albums and merchandise artwork you will find the bands love for muscle cars, custom vans, skateboarding and science fiction. This is rock that kicks ass. It makes you want to grow your hair out, put on a bandana and get lost in yourself. Its Dazed and Confused all over again. More people need Fu Manchu in their lives.  Tonight they went full throttle to kick everyones asses blazing thru all 14 tracks in order from 'The Action Is Go' before treating the crowd to an encore of classics leaving our heads and ear drums screaming with pleasure. It was classic Fu show. As Jack Blacks character Dewey Finn would say in 'The School of Rock', they melted our faces.

We arrived at the show a little late missed Vagina Panther, the first of two opening bands. I know nothing about Vagina Panther other than the fact that their name is pretty awesome.

Second openers Bloodnstuff were the revelation of the evening. My friends and I were all arriving, milling around and getting our beers when it hit us that the two dudes on stage were ripping it up. This two man band from Minneapolis left us wanting more and pissed off that we arrived late missinf more than half of their set. Their Facebook page lists their type of music as 'post-rock'. Not really sure what that means. I just know that they kicked ass and were a great warm up for Fu


opening song-Evil Eye (thanks beatfreak72 for posting on youtube)
encore song-Weird Beard (thanks beatfreak72 for posting on youtube) Bloodnstuff (thanks beatfreak72 for posting on youtube) Bloodnstuff (live from 89.3 The Current)

GOOGA MOOGA

The 2nd annual Googa Mooga took place in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on May 17,18,19. This food, beer, wine and music festival continues to go thru growing pains as they work out some kinks. I have to say, I have been lucky in my experiences over these first two years. Last years inaugural saw complaints on things ranging from obtaining festival tickets (which are free), the long lines getting in, getting 'over 21' wristbands as well as food and drink. After I was given tickets a few days before, I was able to go to day 2 last year when things to have been smoothed out and we enjoyed a great day of food, drink and a fantastic set of headliners Hall & Oats who dazzled us with an hour and a half of non stop hits.

For the 2013 edition, organizers promised that all the kinks have been worked out and this years festival would be outstanding. One new twist to this festival was the addition of a third day, which would be an opening night paid concert with The Darkness, Flaming Lips and Yeah Yeah Yeahs gracing the stage. If you purchased a ticket to this opening night you were also given a ticket to your choice of Saturday or Sundays festivities. I didn't make it to Fridays show but from what I heard, The Darkness hit the stage around 4:45 pm, Flaming Lips a little after 6 and Yeah Yeah Yeahs were finished around 8. That's tough for a New York crowd to make it out to Brooklyn by 5 or even 6 on a Friday before our 'summers hours' have kicked in. Not sure why the show had to be done by 8 each night but I assume being a city park has something to do with it.

As with last years festival, I was given a ticket a few days before hand and went on Saturday. Also, as with last year, I had a great time.  Light rain much of the afternoon kept a good chunk of ticket holders away making it a breeze entering the venue, getting food and drink as well as getting good views of the bands. There seemed to be some confusion as to the beer/wine tents in which you had to purchase a cup for $2 to gain a bigger selection of drinks while you could also purchase a smaller selection at other booths around the grounds while not needing the $2 cup. Food selections were broad and included options from restaurants from around the NYC area. I went with the 'Phat Thai' from Pok Pok, a small Thai restaurant located on the Lower East Side. This shit was spicy but delicious so thankfully I had easy access numerous cold IPA's from an upstate brewery to wash it down.

As for music, the selection also varied. As we walked in Father John Misty was on the stage. While I love his cd, this guy is super annoying in concert as you can read in a previous post. Pearl and the Beard were a 3 piece which included 2 girls (oddly neither of them named Pearl) and a guy with a beard. They had a singer/songwriter type vibe and the lead singer sang and played a snare drum standing up which for some reason seemed kind of cool. The star of the day came up next on the main stage and that is a man called Lorenzo Cherubini, otherwise known as Jovanotti. Where have I been? This guy was awesome. This italian has been around since the late 80's, churning out 12 albums that blend hip hop, funk, ska, reggae, word music and even rap. He has been called Italy's first rapper but he is so much more. He is an amazing performer that sings in italian, english and spanish. He gave shout outs to the early NYC rappers that influenced him along with professing his love for the Beastie Boys during a cover of 'no sleep til brooklyn'. It's performers like Jovanotti that make me love music so much. I knew nothing about this guy, he comes out and blows me away to the point that I want to know everything about him and hear all of his music. Truly inspiring. Headliners Matt & Kim were a big disappointment for me. I expected a lot more as I have heard great things about them live. While they do their best to make their performance exciting, it just seemed very boring and more of a schtick. Less then halfway thru their set I headed to the second stage to encounter a small dance party going on as Red Baraat were on stage. These nine brooklynites play something called Bhangra Funk Dhol 'n' Bass which blends jazz, funk, hip hop in a crazy party vibe. Wow! So much fun and definitely a must see next time they play NYC.

Unfortunately for Googa Mooga, the rains came down hard during the night into Sunday and they were forced to cancel day 3 of the festival. Changes made from year one to year two were positive. Hopefully they are able to continue and we see an even better year three in 2014 and beyond as you can't beat a day in the park complete with great food, great drink, great music and great friends.

Check out Jovanotti from SXSW this past year


Check out Red Baraat performing a few years ago

RICHIE HAVENS RIP

Richie Havens died last week at the age of 72. I first became aware of him, as did many others, from his legendary performance from the WOODSTOCK '69 music festival. I remember being very young watching the WOODSTOCK movie numerous times on PBS and his performance stood out more than any of the other bands. As the story goes, Richie was scheduled to be the second performer of the festival but was moved to first because scheduled openers, Sweetwater, were stuck in traffic. Originally planning to play a 4 song set, those in attendance got more than they bargained for as the event organizers urged him to play on due to more performers being stuck in festival traffic. His set is rumored to have lasted over 2 1/2 hours and after returning for several encores he basically ran out of songs to play. Returning to the stage one last time, Richie improvised the spiritual "Motherless Child" into "Freedom", the legendary jam that would set the tone for the rest of the festival and a generations to come.

Thanks to youtube, we can watch some his legendary performances(s)

FREEDOM


HERE COMES THE SUN

 TUPELO HONEY---JUST LIKE A WOMAN

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT-4/4/13-Le Trabendo, Paris France

Oh my, this is juicy. My wife and I decided to go to Paris to celebrate her birthday. Much to my excitement (and maybe hers), it just so happened that the first part of Rocket From The Crypt's reunion tour was scheduled to roll thru Paris at the same time. Hands down, RFTC are one of my favorite bands of all time. Their live shows are legendary with a blaring horn section and in your face rock 'n roll led by their always charismatic lead singer John Reis AKA 'Speedo'. RFTC called it quits to their storied career in 2005, ending with a sold out show on Halloween night in their hometown of San Diego so the six members could concentrate on the many other projects they were involved in. Rumors started to swirl of a potential reunion in late 2011 after the band got together to record a song and appear on Yo Gabba Gabba, a show in which Speedo has a recurring role as 'Swami', which is also happens to be the name of his record label. Much to everybody's excitement the news of their reunion was confirmed in late 2012 and a short european tour was announced for the spring of this year.

Which brings us to Paris, Thursday, April 4th when RFTC brought their matching fancy outfits to Le Trebendo in northeast Paris. This was my first show outside of the USA so I was anxious of what to expect. We arrived to a mix of languages being spoken and after a few conversations we discovered that people, many sporting 'rocket tattoo's', had traveled from Germany, Belgium and England for this much anticipated show. Our Parisian friend that joined us, told me that the only way you would be from Paris and be at this show is if you spoke english well enough to understand the band. He had the feeling that not many people at the show were from Paris. Regardless, the 700 capacity venue was full of excitement by the time the band his the stage.

Its was no surprise what we would hear tonight. With 7 studio albums and handful worth of EP's to choose from, any real Rocket fan could easily pick 20 songs that would make up the bulk of the set list. The real anticipation would be how they would sound after 8 years off? In one word, awesome. The band hit the stage with Speedo immediately let us know he was in the mood telling us that he was "horny" before tearing into an almost 25 song career spanning set that included Born in 69, Young Livers, On A Rope, Don't Darlene, Made For You, Dick On A Dog, I'm Not Invisible, Middle, Bring Us Bullets and more. As always Speedo led the charge constantly chatting up the crowd, discussing coyote's, the power of rock n roll, having fun with hecklers, reminiscing about their first gig in Paris in front of less than 25 people and even dumping a beer out on a large man in the front row. The band has not lost a step in their years apart. The horn section (Apollo 9 & JC 2000) blared their horns constantly encouraging the crowd with background vocals while guitar & bass players (ND & Petey X) led the charge behind Speedo. Ruby Mars, one of rock's best kept secrets, pounded the drums in his always energetic and entertaining fashion

 In the end, the return of Rocket From the Crypt has begun and it seems as if they have left off where they ended eight years ago. Kicking ass! Here is some video i found on Youtube:

Some photos I took: