It's Playlist time! (heck, I always forget to put up these things 'till some o' you axe for it, and you better believe I feel well flattered when you guys 'n galls actually care about my, uh, "taste" music wise). So let's go 'n dig in...
As for new stuff; I'm well 'n truly gone on the Leg Hounds' latest 'Ready to Go' on Alien Snatch. Sure, they still sound a lot like the Devil Dogs, but Christ are they good at doin' just that !. Somebody (Jeroen, Robert?) should get these guys over here before they split or run outta steam. And speakin' o' Euro tours, it was good to learn that Hot Pocket Robert will be takin' some time off from walkin' Tim Warren's dog to drive the mighty Ghetto Ways around the high 'n by ways of Euroland, 'cause their previously mentioned debut disc is still a mainstay on HQ's hi-fi. By all means get this platter, 'cause it's easily one of this years best.
I've been on a major Sun Records bender over the past few weeks. Carl Perkins especially spendin' hour upon hour doin' the rounds on my trusty Torens. Fine, fine honky tonk music that'll never grow old... As goes for just about anything on the label. Something which obviously rarely goes for a major label, but thumbs up anyway for Warner who have just released a solid 2 (vinyl!) disc blast o' stellar 60s soul ('Sock it To 'em Soul'). The names here might be familiar, but most o' the tunes aboard will be only recognized by the more hardcore soul fans. Jeez, Rex Garvin & the Mighty Cravers' 'Sock it To 'em J.B' is worth the price off admission alone !. Another great comp to be on the look out for is 'Living in the Past' on Misty Lane that rounds up a cool selection of the more softer side of 60s Dutch beat w/ full color sleeve 'n informed liners...
Oh, and of course there's CCR (as always), and for you reggae fans may I suggest 'Studio One Ska' on Soul Jazz and the Wailing Souls' 'At Channel One' on Pressure sounds that almost gives their ol' 'Fire House Rock' classic a run for it's hard earned money.... So there you have it (in brief), keep remindin' me to post these things more frequently....

The new season of THE SOPRANOS starts in the US on Sunday March 7th. The latest run of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM ends March 14th. Go HBO!

Just a reminder that BBC RADIO 2 will be broadcasting the great PUNK ROCK USA documentary this coming Saturday (6th March) and next (13th March). The second part was never aired because the Queen Maw croaked. Fingers crossed that any similar occurence will hold it until it goes out this time. If you miss it, then those with broadcast can catch it on the Beeb's listen again facility. It'll blow those cobwebs away and then some...

The latest batch of releases from Ace Records includes discs by (ao) Richard Berry and BB King plus a new volume in their great 'Land Of 1000 Dances' series. New on their site is an obit for Doris Troy plus another handy dandy guide in their "How To Buy Ace CDs By Genre" series.

Straight off the train that brought me back home from Amsterdam were I went to see Jerry Lee Lewis. A weird night for sure, as on arriving I learned that JLL's flight was delayed and I had about three hours to kill in a city that's all but dead on a Monday night. After spendin' way too long in a bar sippin' wine 'n readin' the dailies, I still arrived at the Paradiso well before showtime. So much so, that I had to watch this guy called Blondell, who seemed to be Jerry's support act on this tour. And what aural torture it was; think of a ABC (remember them?) lookalike doin' al the worst Elvis tunes you can think of and who rounds up his set with a U2 cover, get the picture?.
Finally, on comes Jerry Lee. And no matter the fact that he plays a short set, is backed by a band that couldn't hold a candle to the Nashville Teens and that he looks like he's just suffered a stroke, seein' the man up on stage from up close is one of those things that makes life worth living. The way he pounds those 88s is way beyond compare, and his voice is still, uh, kill, no, make that deadly. The crowd was a weird mix of aging rockers, chain-smoking housewives and Hell's Angels... all of 'm bein' in obvious awe of bein' in the pressence of one of the last real icons left on this planetseein' the man up on stage alive 'n well. Counting my change afterwards, I noticed the whole thing cost me well over a buck a minute, but it was sure worth it, 'cause when it comes down to it; no one or nothing beats Jerry Lee, so I just skipped figurin' out what was left of my petty cash and counted my blessings, and hey....
Afterwards I caught a couple o' tunes by Mr Airplane Man at the upstairs bar. These Boston gals do a White Stripes kinda thing, but with a more Oblivians-kinda weight to it. It was cool to note that after touring Euroland for only several days, they had attracted a number o' guys following them and handing over presents before showtime.

Suzy and BB Y los Quattro with the great BW in London last week...

Of all the Brian Wilson reviews that I've read over the past week, the following is the absolute best... Courtesy of Lane Steinberg

"I'm now on the phone listening to "Smile" live from London. At 3:30 my friend Lenny called and said, "Lane, you there? Listen. I'm at the Brian Wilson concert in London. He's about to start the Smile section. I'll put the cell phone on the floor."

It's un-fucking-believable. I can't believe what I'm listening to. "Cabinessence" better than the record. Wait, now Lenny's singing along with "Wonderful" and he's off key. STOP SINGING, LENNY! He just popped onto the phone to say Macca & Martin are in the audience. Now I'm hearing stuff I've never heard before. GREAT. Like Good Vibrations mixed into Wonderful. OH, THIS IS AMAZING!!!!! Now it's the coda of "Surf's Up" with other stuff I can't recognize into the beginning of "Surf's Up". Harmonies are dead on. This is like an acid trip. For me, this is phone sex...

(Smile Coda - 45 minutes later)

Listened to the entire hour 2nd set + encores on the cell phone. The capillaries in my brain are probably like fried onions. Amazing to think that in 2004, Brian is performing a letter perfect version of Smile. If Vegas was putting odds on such a possibility back in '77, when Brian looked like the side of a barn, the ratio would be off the charts. Even through the static of the phone, the power of this music struck me in a very unique way. It was much deeper and more serious than the Pet Sounds set I saw two years ago. There was not even a vaguely pathetic moment here. This was pure intellectual vision and POWER. There were no breaks throughout the whole set. It was done as an entire piece, like a symphony. How these guys were able to nail a piece as tough as "Our Prayer" live is beyond me. Brian sounds absolutely astounding. The encores of "Barbara Ann", "Do It Again", and "I Get Around" were admittedly anti-climatic & sounded much like the Pet Sounds tour versions. Lenny got on the phone during "I Get Around" to say that Macca was dancing in the aisles with everyone else and no one was paying him any mind. I enjoyed trying to envision that! Now, almost forty years past the Sgt. Pepper/Smile rivalry, Brian's played the unreleased Smile exactly the way it should have sounded to the guy he lost the battle to. Pretty dramatic stuff. And then, after what seemed like three minutes of solid trans-atlantic applause, Brian came out for a simple solo piano rendition of "Love & Mercy", a song which gains more majesty & resonance with each passing year. It was quite a moving finale. I'm sure Dennis & Carl were having quite an amusing "I told you so" moment out there in the Ozone...

I wonder how much Lenny's cell phone bill is gonna be... "

Ok, I'm on the slippery slope here. Careering back toward reality having survived a week which has included pestilence and a power cut. The snow hasn't hit here so no chance of any stuck in the hoose respite. That and the fact that I haven't got this ongoing e-mail thing resolved either so I send out messages with no real idea of whether they're reaching their destination or not. The lack of reply suggests the latter but who knows? I expect things to work, how chuffing naive is that?

Most of you will probably only know her as Miss Togar in 'Rock & Roll Highschool', but Mary Woronov has been in more great (cult) movies than you'd be able to mention. Dig around on her site for a while and be amazed at all the other things she's been involved with. And while I ain't no expert on the visual arts front, I can vouch for her novels bein' well worth your while...

Dutch readers should note that the VPRO Joey Ramone documentary from 2002 will be repeated on Sunday March 7 at 11 pm (net 3).

Now and again these days, I need some kinda affirmation that it's worth all the bashing of my head agin the proverbial brick wall in the name of what I consider to be be good music. There is only good and bad after all and the best transcends any genrefication. This dvd contains their patented American (electric folk) music and it will blow your mind. It underscores the bands importance once and for all. As performances go, this is blistering top form and if indeed it is the last ever performance of the real Blasters then they couldn't have gone out any better. Despite his not being there in physical form, I'm sure Lee Allen was in the house that night because it hops and bops as only a place lit with his kinda spirit could be. I wonder if this could be granted some kinda big screen release because it seems like we should be watchin' this in a cinema. Hearing that rhythm section and that piano pounding, those guitar licks and that voice in full sen-surround might be more than the faint hearted could be expected to take but I haven't seen performance footage like this since the MC5 movie. The little touches of interview spread liberally through are great too and all tolled this is an utter gift to anybody who ever saw the band and proof positive of how to "do it" for future generations. All this and plenty of audience shots of Phil Dennison too. Shout Factory have done a great job.

Dave Alvin and those Guilty Men of his acquaintance are heading for the Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow on May 5th. More info as it becomes available.

JERRY (LEE) LEWIS in Glesgae...

Ivan from NERVOUS SHAKES sez... "Check out our album 'Separate beds? I Don't Think So' (blessed by Rick Rivets, Cheetah Chr and Jeff Dahl) and spread the word!!!". Should be out in April on Nun Records. Sounds like it's been blessed by Fred Willard also...

RIP: The great Chicago blues saxophone player A.C. Reed and Estelle Axton (co-owner of Stax Records).

Woah, I see that a copy of that CRAMPS book of old cuttings and whatev entitled ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE went for £107 on Ebay on February 20th! Same day (if my memory serves me correctly as Ivy's birthday. Don't even 'ave one meself... a copy of the book, not a birthday that is.

Loose Lips Sink Ships is the new mag from Steve Gullick and the folks that brought you Careless Talk Costs Lives. It's a cracking looking beast indeed and while, like it's predecessor, I can't say that I dig anything like all of the subject matter, this really ups the ante in terms of both presentation and content. The writing is the absolute polar opposite of the advertorial crap that we're fed day to day and that in itself is a most worthy endeavour. It's a bit pricey at £4 maybe but I know the cost involved in assembling such an artefact and I'm telling you that nobody is coining it in at that. Also there's no free cdful of crap because we have way too many mug coasters already, right? Everett True is involved here and is looking to launch a mag by the name of Plan B in the not too distant future.

Copped from today's e-mole, a message from Ken Fox... Here are some confirmed FLESHTONES dates. Please announce, promote and post on all appropriate web sites. This being one of those, here's da info...

Fri 4/16/04 Arlington VA Iota Cafe
Sat 4/17/04 Baltimore MD Mojo Room & Lounge

Thu 4/29/04 Buffalo NY Mohawk Place
Fri 4/30/04 Hamilton ONT Corktown Tavern
Sat 5/1/04 Toronto ONT Horseshoe Tavern

The one and only David Scott Esq. provides this snapshot of Brain Wilson's opening show at The Festival Hall in London on Friday past.

the good guys won or pop is art and vice versa

Late 1965. Imagine Brian Wilson's "California Girls" - now spin forward a couple of months to the sonic spangle of "Pet Sounds". Take a breather, proceed another few months on to "Good Vibrations" then enter the uncharted waters of, officially, "the most famous unreleased album of all time", "SMILE".
It's mid 1967. Is it any wonder that Brian Wilson crashed and burned at such speed? Being surrounded by morons didn¹t help either.
2004. Brian Wilson is currently surrounded by 18 musicians giving life to the most audacious pop experiment of it's day or our day, a kaleidescoped music collage which leaves you breathless in it's spin.
Tom Mix, Laurel And Hardy, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Existential Vaudeville, a mesmerising portrait of America in tiny shattered fragments. It's a music you've never heard before. It¹s beautiful and hilarious.
Polaroid, Royal Festival Hall 21 Jan 2004. Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks hands joined and raised in victory. the good guys won.

Adele Hartley heps y'all to...

Cult Weekend at Filmhouse (Edinburgh),Friday 5th to Sunday 7th March 2004

"Cult! invites you to a weekend of genuinely exhilarating, alternative cinema. A short, sharp antidote to all that has become so banal about recent cinema. Largely genre based, these are movies which experiment heavily with generic conventions and finally emerge as utterly unique works. Here, then, are a handful of titles which aggressively push the envelope of filmmaking, embracing the irrational and the extreme, taking us to the outer limits of cinematic experience.

In all these films resides the tangible sense of an irrepressible energy and passion - a determination that each movie had to be made (even though it now seems incredible that some of them do exist). This is visceral cinema. It is also progressive, highly individual and accomplished cinema - full of intelligence, wit, style and intensity. Cult! offers you an extremely rare opportunity to see these handpicked gems on the big screen. Some of these films have not been screened in Britain for at least a decade. Nobuo Nakagawa's Jigoku, a jaw dropping classic of Japanese horror cinema, has never before been screened in the UK.

The film packages includes: Possession, Punishment Park, Whipped and Abused: A Secret History of American Exploitation Cinema, Liquid Sky, Thundercrack!, La Rupture, Short Night of Glass Dolls Malastrana and Jigoku.

Filmhouse is delighted that film archivist, Jack Stevenson, will be appearing in person to present Whipped & Abused, an introduction to the history of American exploitation cinema told via an outrageous mix of trailers, clips, out-takes, shorts, pseudo-documentary newsreels and home movie erotica."

And while yer at it, check out DEAD BY DAWN.

So, The Stooges are headed for Glasgow as part of that mess? I doubt if the party faithful with have the stomach to put up with that but anyways, let's hope they have the sense to make another sweep.

Bjorn Nording drew my attention to this. Look out for The Long Ryders hitting up Europe during July. Meanwhile... "Sid spent a large part of 2003 working on a documentary about Gram Parsons. This is now finished and will be premiered in the UK on BBC4 TV on 5th March 2004 at 10pm (GMT). The film will possibly be scheduled for a BBC Two showing sometime in April or May with showing on a North American cable channel to be arranged ASAP. A co-production between the German Film Commission and the BBC, Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel, will be released as a DVD in late spring/early summer with extra footage. " FURTHER DETAILS.