Hello dedicated followers of the music scene!
As i'm sure you
all know by now that R "Crabby" Smith from The Townedgers is on a much
deserved and overdue vacation. i'm sure all of you also check out his
top tens and rants via blogs. so, since Crabby is mentally and
physically off, i figure to fill the gap i would post a top ten and a
blog rant. (only for you Crabby!) Shall we start with my top ten of what
i have been listening to a lot this past week? (alphabetically of
course)
1. Count Basie and his Orchestra - Good Mileage (1979)
www.myspace.com/countbasie1901 this is a live version from a concert in
Switzerland that also featured Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. this song
is mostly a drum solo by Butch Miles, and wow! what a drum solo it is! i
had never heard of his name before, but i definitely need to find out
more about him. insanely astonishing drummer!
2. Dirty Love
- Code Red (2009) www.myspace.com/dirrtylovemusic the first song i
heard by Dirrty Love and what a fun song!! makes me wanna boogie! i
believe this is Leah's first recorded lead vocal too, great job! for
such a new band it amazes me how well they have everything put together
already. this song helps rock my invisible socks!! can't wait for their
debut to be complete!
3. Elysa Fein - Other Ladies (2009)
www.myspace.com/theelysaexperiment Elysa Fein hails from New York, her
latest recording is a beautiful song about one of a kind love, one thing
about Elysa is that not only all of her songs different from each
other, but all equally beautiful. Hopefully someday soon she will record
a debut cd!
4. Fat Mattress - Mr. Moonshine (1969)
www.myspace.com/fatmattressfolk something magical about their debut and
this song. most remember Fat Mattress as the band Noel Redding started
after his time in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, however Fat Mattress'
debut is all killer and no filler, even their b-sides were top notch!
Fat Mattress has been in heavy rotation here for months.
5.
Green Day - Last Night On Earth (2009) www.myspace.com/greenday is this
what Dave Clark 5 would sound like today? good chance i think! this is
probably my favourite Green Day song from my favourite Green Day album!
beautifully touching song, my how they have grown!
6. Pariah
Piranha - R 'n' Arg (2007) www.myspace.com/pariahpiranha coming from
Pennsylvania, Pariah Piranha is like an odd mix of Meat Puppets, The
Muffs and Patterson Hood. great interesting stuff!
7. Razorback -
Love Uncovered (1998) so let me profess my love for this song! a band
from the Phillippines that embraces wide ranges of sounds. definitely a
lot of 1980s mix in here including L.A. Guns, Queensryche, Guns N Roses
and even some Led Zeppelin. i bet ya Godsmack was a huge fan too ;-).
can't sit still while listening to this song!!
http://razorbackmusic.com/
8. The Townedgers - Hey Bama (1993)
www.myspace.com/thetownedgers ahh "hey bama"! sometimes there's just
nothing better than listening to The Townedgers. Slipknot might be the
best known band from Iowa, but Townedgers are certainly the best. of
course if all you reading this contacted The Townedgers to negotiate how
to get some cds by them, they might be even more popular than Slipknot,
they definitely deserve it! i'm still not sure why Barack Obama didn't
ask The Townedgers to slightly rewrite this song and play it at his
inaguration, hmm...
9. Waylon Jennings - Silver Ribbons
(1966) www.myspace.com/waylonhossjennings so, anybody that knows me
knows i might as well have a Waylon shrine =P, Waylon made his acting
debut in Nashville Rebel as the star of the film, this song was the
first track off of the soundtrack. oooh how i swoon for Waylon!!
10.White
Owl - Fifteen Men On A Dead Man's Chest (2007)
www.myspace.com/whiteowlru a band coming out of Moscow is always a
fascinating treat for the ears, never knowing quite what to expect, on
this song the take on an infectious tale of some pirates! how the chorus
makes me bop!!! looove this song!
EVERYBODY! LET'S RANT!
Adam
Marsland's Chaos Band: Adam's last studio cd was half a decade ago, it
was a solo cd that was arguably his best effort yet...until possibly
now! that's right, next month will finally show the release of "Go
West", a 2 cd set says to me it will be worth the wait, and the few
songs i have heard off of it have proven they once again have outdone
themselves. let's talk about being excited for this cd! and equally as
excited as the sneak preview of all the songs on 31 July! yes the Chaos
Band will reveal the new album,all 23 songs, in it's entirety in Marina
Del Rey at Brennan's Pub! and it's free!! you better be there too! =D
www.myspace.com/adammarsland
Alice In Chains: Growing up i was a
huge Alice In Chains fan, still am, but back when i was a pre-teen
adolescent they influenced me so much in my writing/singing.
particularly their lead singer Layne Staley, i idolised that man, in
fact back in the early 2000s, all the members of Vufcup were huge Alice
In Chains fans. we even covered "Angry Chair" once in concert. their
videos were stunning pieces of art and back then i used to buy
cassettes, and all 3 of their studio albums have a strong memory
connection for me. Alice In Chains last studio album was in November
1995. undoubted their best cd to date. since that time a lot of bands
had came out and made it huge that were heavily influenced by Alice In
Chains. Sadly by this time Alice In Chains had been on a hiatus mainly
due to Layne's drug problems. even though everyone knew he had serious
problems i never ever remember hearing one bad word against him, i never
met him but saw a lot of interviews and he seemed like a shy person
with a very good heart, amazing talent, captivating as a performer.
About 5 or 6 years had passed since their last cd and i had this feeling
that Alice In Chains was going to come back with a new album and put
all those imitators in their place, the feeling was so strong that i was
expecting anyday to hear they were working on an album or about to
release one, it would have been the perfect time too, i thought "wow,
this is going to be amazing!" Not too long afterwards i dropped by a
close friend's place to, i think it was drop something off, but it was
just quick and before left he said "hey man, i'm sorry to hear about
Layne, that's a real drag". if anything, i'm glad the news came from
him. i just went walking in a daze, went over to a bandmember's place
who also loved Alice In Chains and told him about it, he shed a tear as
well. i later went home and up until that time i don't think i ever
remember crying as much as i did that night. If it taught me anything,
it was to not idolise the living 'cuz their choices aren't done yet. I
remember hearing a few years ago, the original members of Alice In
Chains had gotten back together to do some shows, i thought that was
fantastic, they all seemed to worked perfect together. and now here we
are, they have a new lead singer, they kept the name Alice In Chains and
they are about to release a brand new cd. How do i feel about this? so
mixed. i have not yet heard the new lead singer, what a great
opportunity though to be working with Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and
Mike Inez though!!! however, not sure why they got a new lead singer
since Jerry Cantrell is perfectly capable of singing lead as proven with
Alice In Chains and on his 2 solo recordings. should they have kept the
name Alice In Chains? mixed feelings. Alice In Chains was all 4 of them
working together as a band, it was the amazing vocal harmony between
Layne and Jerry, it was half those songs that Layne wrote his lyrics too
and all those songs Layne sang out his soul in, all of the is gone,
where is the legacy? however, as with any addiction like drugs, alcohol
or smoking, it is a selfish addiction that leads to destruction, Layne
was the cause of his own death, he made his choices, everytime he abused
drugs was a chance for an overdose and finally that happened, it's not
like it was unexpected like a vehicle/plane crash or a homicide, this
was bound to happen and it did, so why should the name Alice In Chains
die just because of his own selfish choices? Has Alice In Chains wasted a
lot of time over the years? 3 cds, 2 live discs, 2 eps and a box set in
a 21 year span so you tell me. I do hope this album sells amazing for
them, however, all those bands that long since imitated Alice In Chains
have faded to the background now so in that way i feel they have nothing
to "prove" with this album, we already know they are amazing
songwriters/musicians. www.myspace.com/aliceinchains
The Artful
Dodger: The Artful Dodger has released a brand new cd! it's entitled
"Feed On My Soul But It Will Make You Sick". this is one top-notch cd!
11 insightful songs that will make you feel. my only complaint is it's
only 36 minutes. amazing cd!!! you can download it for free at his site!
www.myspace.com/theartfuldodgermusic Dirrty Love: After The Juju Bones
broke up, understandably bassist Leah wasn't sure what to do next. this
dilemma didn't last long at all and before we all knew it she had the
metal dance power trio Dirrty Love in full throttle! playing shows,
recording and writing, a profile, pictures, the works! for a band that
has only been round for a few months, and with Leah fronting for the
first time, they are proving to be a force to be reckoned with! let's
keep an eye out for this band 'cuz something tells me they're gonna take
us all by surprise! www.myspace.com/dirrtylovemusic
Green
Day: So after half a decade (you guys are as bad as Adam =P), Green Day
are back with an 18 song mini opera called "21st Century Breakdown". as
much as i have always loved Green Day i never had a favourite cd by
them...until now. sometimes it's hard for a band to have some many songs
on a single disc and some of the songs fall into the background,
probably the fillers. every song on this cd stands tall on it's own,
every song is memorable. they did an amazingly incredible job! go Green
Day!!! www.myspace.com/greenday
Michael Jackson: So, what more
is there to say? media is saying it all i think, 24/7. you know it's
sad, here's a guy that was way up on top, how many decades ago? oh yeah
about 2 decades. musically just faded to the background it seemed.
remember when so many people seemed to refer to him as "wacko jacko"? i
wonder if these are the same people that are now worshipping him again. i
saw where they gave a tour of his neverland home recently and Michael
had a little hiding spot that was like a secret compartment, they
actually showed it, they said Michael had that built just in case
anything bad were to happen. because ya know that works in real life,
hiding really resolves issues. i wonder where all those people that are
now taking the time to send letters/flowers/cards/etc were the last 2
decades? sure it's very thoughtful, but kinda too late for Michael now
to realise how supportive his fans are,huh? this should be a great
lesson, if there's a band/artist you admire, take the time out right now
to write them a letter to let them know how much they mean to you so
they can read it while they are alive. is your favourite artist no
longer in the limelight? well why don't all the fans get together and
promote an artist you want to see on the top again? it's all up to you,
ya know. you are the fan. by the way, "a ticket to his memorial"?!?! and
just now they were like "selections have been made, are you one of the
lucky winners?" ..... "lucky winners"?!?!?!?
www.myspace.com/michaeljackson
Stephanie Andreus: Stephanie has
been hard at work on her 2nd cd. she's kept a lot of it under wraps, but
the few things i have heard are breathtaking. not sure when her new cd
"Pandora's Box" will be released, but one thing is for sure, this one
can not be missed!! www.myspace.com/stephanieandreus
Hope i made ya proud Crabby =D
