Norton Records has announced a series of '60's Fort Worth Teen Scene releases for the Fall. According to their press release, "You will dig unseen photos, rare and unissued recordings plus legendary sides presented for the first time from master tapes!".

As some of you might know I'm somewhat of a Reggae fanatic besides the usual NBT fare. And I wouldn't even mention this if it wasn't for the fact that the Soul Jazz label is set to release a 19 track comp of Joe Gibbs productions. Gibbs bein' reponsible for some of my all-time fave Jamaican recordings. Most of you will remember Althea & Donna's UK #1 'Uptown Top Ranking' from 1978, but he, together with his engineer Eroll Thompson, was also behind the majestic 'Two Sevens Clash' LP by Culture, the 'Visions Of Dennis Brown' disc plus the genius 'African Dub' series. After the excellent 'No Bones For The Dogs' dub set on Pressure Sounds, this new one looks like it's gonna be an even better addition to the Gibbs discography. GO!.

Rip Off recording artists The Marked Men will be touring Euroland in August; 14 Vera, Groningen (NL) w/The Stilettos & Shakin' Nasties, 15 Pit's, Kortrijk (BEL), 16 tba, 17 Swaf, Hoorn (NL), 20 Tower, Bremen (D) w/Moorat Fingers, 21 Rotterdam (NL) tbc, 22 Ekko, Utrecht (NL) w/The Stilettos, 23 Cobra (outside), Solingen (D).

UPDATED: The I-94 Bar: Rock with the Dragons, the Cynics, X , Sheek the Shayk and Nanker Phelge. GO!.

Exploding Hearts lose three members in crash. GO!.

What with the upcomin' Hydromatics' Euro tour 'n all it seems like a good time to hip you lot out there to the excellent Scott Morgan site 'n dito Yahoo Group.

LINK: A long, but interesting review of the Ramones documentary 'End Of The Century' in Creem. GO!.

These are busy and weird times. To put the tin lid on a rather putrid week, I blew my stereo amp yesterday and I'm operating on a less than meaty system at the moment. managed to salvage a workable intermediate stage but i won't be able to raise the roof until I get my mitts on another bit of gear. I know, all the apples fell on me or whit?
Lets see, check out The Illegal Movers - Buzzpunkpowerpoprockactiondeluxe on the Middle Class Pig imprint. Whilst alleged Garage Combo's come and bore, these Newcastle Upon Tyne dwellars provide a nifty twist on a style that is the bread and butter of NBT-ites. A more Wild Kingdomesque slant on The Coyotemen should paint a postive picture of what to expect. Divnae believe me? Go to www.middleclasspig.com and check 'em out for yourself with some download action.
Now to Sweden, home of the hits and the land which seems to have primo punk flouride in it's water supply. Mando Diao are a new name to me but it seems like they've been snapped up by Mute Records. Of course, The Hives are mentioned in their blurb but so are The Creeps. This is because there's an element of soul in their sound. It's also a tad more open ended in terms of sounding almost contemporary. Its a mixed bag with the more unusual tracks like "Mr Moon" possessing something that might appeal to radio programmers with an ear for laying something new on their listenership. "The Band" on the other hand cuts and shuts Dexy's Midnight Runners with The Count V (that's five incase there's anybody reading this that doesn't know. These guys could really appeal to an Idlewild audience and while I don't think the schtick stretches over the whole album, there's a couple of things here that could see 'em to the next level. www.mando-diao.com
Much more direct, also from Sweden are Parker. A great punk rock, attitude streaming from every pore, pogo machine.They woulda been on stiff Records if such a beastie still existed. Eva Parker has a voice like Angel CC channelling Lene Lovich. Mighty lungs indeed. Their second album "Le Petomane", is just out and I urgeth you to check 'em out. www.parkerpop.com
Outright best thing I've heard in a long time is a band called The Debs which existed in Springfied, Missouri around 1978. The first song on their unreleased demo is gagging to be covered. Which combo will have the sheer taste to get in there first? More info about these lassies when I get it.

Rhino is set to re-issue the original Television albums with bonus tracks plus a live album. GO!

LINK: Cool Dutch beat site (with MP3s). GO!

Got a couple o' msgs recently from people tellin' me they're missin' the semi-frequent playlists I used to include in the ON/CL days. So here's some o' the stuff that's doin' the round's on the hi-fi; Lotsa ol' Rocksteady (esp the ' Treasure Isle Showtime' LP on Heartbeat, the sleeve sez it all; 'It's like popcorn; hot baby, hot!)", the Blues (as always, w/ Elmore James and Otis Rush gettin' the most spins these days), comps from the Soul Jazz 'n Preasure Sounds labels (two great re-issue labels in their field), the 'Lookin' Good' comp on BGP (cool R&B/Soul mod-grooves), the Leg Hounds (prime Devil Dogs-type punk-R'n'R), Creedence Clearwater Revival, early Stones (two perennial faves) and finally the Nitwitz - Rock & Roll Conquistadores. in MP3 format (If that new album is gonna be anywhere as good as this, it's gonna be damn near lethal!).
So there you have it, I haven't seen the future of rock'n'roll over the past few weeks, but this here stuff is pretty much what has floated my boat recently.

LINK: Wang Dang Dula! is a great site dedicated to the wildest sounds from the 50s and early 60s. Dig around a bit and be amazed at the amount of info available (beware of pop-ups tho'). Esp recommended to all you Kicksters out there. GO!.

Been fast-forwarding through the T in the park TV coverage and actually saw this Kings Of Leon crew. Dearie dearie me, if that's what passes for rock thrills theses days then we're in big trouble.

Fleshtones tourdates confirmed for Texas and California

Thu 4 Sept - Houston, TX at Rudyards
Fri 5 Sept - Austin, TX at Emo’s Inside stage with Sons of Hercules
Sat 6 Sept - San Antonio, TX at Taco Land with Sons of Hercules
Thu 2 Oct - San Diego, CA at Casbah wih Holly Golightly
Fri 3 Oct - Los Angeles, CA at Spaceland with Holly Golightly
Sat 4 Oct - San Francisco, CA at Parside lounge for Budget Rock Garage Festival
Sun 5 Oct - San Francisco, CA at Parside lounge for Budget Rock Garage Festival

For those of you in the NYC area:

Friday July 25 - Joint celebration with Crypt Records and 20 years of Back from the Grave comps

THE SPITS (Seattle, Slovenly Records)
THE LITTLE KILLERS (NYC, Crypt)
THE BLACK LIPS (Atlanta, Bomp)
ANDY G AND THE ROLLER KINGS (NYC, Sympathy)
SOME ACTION (NYC)

Plus DJ Tim Warren from Crypt Records and special guests!

Saturday July 26

NIKKI CORVETTE (Bomp - 1st NYC appearance since 1982!)
LYRES (Boston, Matador, Norton)
HIGH BEAMS (Seattle, Dead Beat)
BASEBALL FURIES (Chicago, Big Neck)
SPITTOONS (NYC)

Plus DJs Alberto from Wowsville and Bazooka Joe

$12 per night
doors 8pm each night
at Sin-e' (150 Attorney St. betw Houston and Stanton)

You can purchase tickets online at www.sin-e.org through ticket web or at Wowsville on 2nd Ave just below St. Marks...tickets should be a Wowsville starting Saturday July 12.

It seems that a new issue of the always amazing Ugly Things magazine is on it's way to the printers. This upcommin' isssue (# 21) wil include the second part of the massive Misunderstood article plus stuff on The Quests, The Paupers, Skip Spence, Meic Stevens and Armageddon. Also an article on legendary Spanish music journalist José Luis Alvarez and Spain's main 60's mag Fonorama. Street date; "by the end of the summer".

This morning, I saw a 2cd set in Tesco entitled "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever" complete with Roger Dean artwork. A further sign that the threadbare arse has fallen out of the music biz. Would you let your corn flakes, carrots or sprouts share a basket with such a beast? It's been a pretty crappy week in all, the programme for the Edinburgh International Film Festival came out and there are slim pickin's to be had there. It'll be hailed as a great success I'm sure, but it puts the tin lid on my beliefs about the artistic directors ability. Just as well we'll be tied up with the return of Amy Allison who'l be promoting the release of her No Frills Friend album on Spit & Polish. Diesel Only in the US.
I keep reading about Kings of Leon and how great they are. Imagine the big dissy then when I hear 'em and they sound like Blur trying to be Rocket From The Crypt.
On the subject of print, there's a magazine out here called Careless Talk Costs Lives and although you might not agree with everything in there, it's firing a veritable ball of phlegm across the bows of what tries to pass as the established press these days. It looks damn good to and it's packed, and I been to the rafters, with info. No cover mounted cd by the chosen dozen or so - just the facts so you can go check stuff out for yrselves. Remember how that goes? It'll keep you goin' until Joss and Joe get Sonic Reducer out on a regular basis. www.carelesstalkcostslives.com
People keep asking me what I think about The Cramps album and all I'm prepared to say is I don't care for it. Why should anybody give a hoot what I think about it anyway? I'm sure you can come up with your own reservations. Good luck to them though, as always I hope they get what they deserve. And to answer another question... No, I won't be going to see them either.

Misty Lane #18 is now available. Included in the all-English publication are interviews with Sky Saxon of The Seeds, Barry Tashain of The Remains, Jim Pons of The Leaves, Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds, and interviews stories on The Mods, Gaunga Dyns, Bachs, Lemon Drops, Bold, Tonto & The Renegades, Bojax, Shadows Four, Terry Rae, Bark of Paper Mulberry, Guilloteens, Cold Sun, Castells and more! Included with each issue is a CD containging tracks by many of the above artists, as well as Sweet Wine, North Shores, Palace Guard, Blue Cheer and more. It's available at http://crea.html.it/sito/NOWSOUND/

Out soon; a Ramones live disc recorded in 1978. GO!.

LINK: "It's the I-94 Bar's Deep Reduction issue. We take you to the Australian shows by this Austro-American band, featuring Radio Birdman's Rob Younger and Deniz Tek.
In other live wrap-ups, guest reviewer Geoff Ginsberg runs the rule over shows by, The Greenhornes, The Supersuckers, The Cramps, Sickidz, The Dictators, Lou Reed, The Fleshtones, Easy Action, Garland Jeffreys, Rocket From the Tombs, X, and Sylvain Sylvain.
In news, Penny Ikinger makes a Career move and we bring you more Radio Birdman Euro dates.
Plus tons of record reviews".
The I-94 Bar: Sydney Rock Action via The Bowery and Motor City. GO!