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THE INDIE ROCK BLOG
The Indie Rock Blog is a collection of Sugartune Artist News and entries from our friends at the Rock and Roll Report. If sweet, sugartunes are stirring in your soul, keep your soul stirred with a subscription to our news feed. 
Now this is classic. If you think your high school yearbook pictures are an embarrassment, check out The Ten Worst Album Covers of All Time. I quickly scanned my old albums just to make sure that I didn’t actually own one of these and thankfully I don’t. That Orleans cover just makes me shudder!
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What the hell is going on in Aerosmith land? Here I am foolishly thinking that they were washed up (again) but the reviews that I have read of their new album Honkin’ On Bobo have been that it signals a “creative rebirth” of the band. I have always been a big fan of Aerosmith. From the “Live Bootleg” poster in my bedroom in High School to the fact that “Angel” was the first dance song at my wedding, to me Aerosmith were a band that lived rock and roll cool. The strange thing is that this was sorely tested after listening to Steve Tyler croak “Dream On” at the Super Bowl. When a buddy asked me if I wanted to go see the Aerosmith/Cheap Trick show that just played Montreal I took a pass as I had seen them a couple of times in the past and I couldn’t imagine things being much different. Well it appears that I was wrong and that Aerosmith have emerged with all their rock and roll guns blazing. Nice to see the old guys showing the new guys a couple of rock and roll tricks. I can’t believe that I actually plan on going out to pick up the new Aerosmith CD! It definitely feels good.
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As I’m typing this I’m listening to Sparkle Star, the winner of the 2004 Maxell Song of the Year in the John Lennon songwriting competition. For all you whiners out there who say that there is no way that you can make videos or tour or generally make a rock and roll impact in this day and age you could learn a lesson or two from the very indie rock band Bubble. They built their own studio where they record, mix and master their music. They film and edit their own professional videos and post them to a website that they designed on their own. Finally they do all their own artwork and book all their own tours. What is your excuse? Check out Bubble for some really great, hard-edged yet hook-filled rock and roll. The only rock band I know of where the lead singer is a knitting fanatic! Very cool stuff.
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If you are wondering what all the fuss is about, go to Acid Planet and download some Smile tracks. Apparently you have to register and the downloads are huge but it’s apparently a mix of studio and live cuts. I’ll check it out this weekend.
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Over at the Audities e-list a debate is brewing over the merits (or lack of) of the Top 100 Moments of Rock that Alan Cross has posted to the website of Toronto radio station The Edge 102.1 FM. I must admit that about 75% of the list is dubious to me but check it out and tell me what you think. And if that list doesn’t get your knickers in a twist, somebody pointed out an alternative list put together by music writer Bill Wyman (no not that one) called The 100 Greatest Moments in Rock that while it has its moments, I can’t help but think that my list would be vastly different but then so probably would yours. Yes there are a number of significant moments in rock and roll that most can agree on, but their significance is often in direct proportion to a person’s connection to the event. Even so, I find it hard to believe that the introduction of the SL-1200 turntable is more significant than Les Paul’s invention of the electric guitar, or Peter Buck’s air rage arrest is more significant to the first appearance of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. I could go on but I’ll let you read them and decide for yourself. Another great rock and roll debate to be sure.
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The introduction of the Sony Walkman certainly changed the way a lot of people listened to music but didn’t necessarily change what they listened to. In All Shook Up: Our listening habits are being revolutionized by the iPod shuffle author Joseph P. Khan makes the argument that the absolute convenience of ripping and loading songs on the iPod and its ilk is fundamentally changing the way we listen to music since it allows us to manage our music in a freeform and almost organic way, seamlessly going from hip hop to jazz to rock and roll with no repeats for literally days. Of course, you still have to buy the music to load onto your iPod (right?) but still there is no doubt that there is a revolution is listener habits precipitated by a tiny MP3 players that most thought Apple mad for producing. Who’s laughing now?
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My favorite ice cream company, Ben and Jerrys are offering a pretty cool deal (pardon the pun) for all you Americans who will be participating in their legendary 26th Annual Free Cone Day on April 27th. If you take the “Oath to Vote” at the same time as you enjoy the best ice cream ever made, you will get a free iTunes song as well as a chance to win an iPod, iMac and a trip to Vermont (my favorite U.S. state) to spend the day as an honorary Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Guru where you will create your own personal batch of ice cream! If ever there was a time that I wished that I was American, this would be one of them. Keep checking their site for updates. I want my Chunky Monkey!
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So says U.S. District Court Judge Edward W. Nottingham in a recent court ruling against the company where the evidence suggests that Clear Channel “illegally reduced radio airplay for artists who booked concert tours with competing promoters.” Monopolies are of no use to anyone. Not in the media, not in computer software and not in the concert promotion business. On the one hand I am certainly encouraged that somebody like Clear Channel is being challenged in court but on the other I see what the end result of Microsoft being branded a monopoly resulted in so I am not holding my breath that things will change that dramatically, although I hope that I am proven wrong.
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That is the question Rolling Stone is asking in Rock Radio Gets Interesting and yes, there are some interesting movements afoot in the commercial radio camp but what I would like to see is a station that features the likes of The Rammones played alongside Led Zeppelin. Cool indie rock and garage juxtaposed against tracks by Bad Company, The Rolling Stones and Pearl Jam. An absolute collision of all these so called genres into a free form rock and roll stew that has you constantly on the edge wondering what’s coming next, with DJs that have an actual personality and passion for music and management who understand that insulting your audience with cookie cutter playlists and an overabundance of ads is no way to get them to buy anything that you might be selling. Don’t tell me that it can’t be done because there are hundreds of shows and stations doing just that and Little Steven’s Underground Garage proves that radio can make money and be interesting and good. The response I have had to my post about KCDX alone just goes to show that people want to love rock and roll radio again if only someone would be daring enough to break out from the current Clear Channel/Infinity straight jacket. Is it even possible in this day and age? With the growth of Internet and Satellite Radio, terrrestrial radio will have no choice but to innovate or die. The rock and roll ball is in their court. Let’s hope they don’t fumble it for the last time.
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OK first off you have to say the title of this post in your best “Comic Book Guy” from The Simpsons voice. Then you will have to kill me because believe it or not, gulp….I actually don’t mind the so called “Worst Song of All Time”! “We Built this City” by Starship isn’t exactly Radiohead but it’s just mindless bubblegum for the brain which is what some of the best rock and roll can be. Now “Party All the Time” by Eddy Murphy, I had actually forgotten about that one and it is truly a horrific “musical” experience. Read the list and let me know if I truly am without taste.
UPDATE: The full list can be found at the Blender site here.
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Could this really be the end of Oasis, the band of a thousand firings? According to Ananova and Heat magazine it certainly appears that way. I love Oasis, always have and I love them for two main reasons. The first is that I think they are a great, unapologetic rock and roll band that pumps out songs that are just perfect for screaming out at the top of your lungs in concert. Some complain that they steal from the greats like The Beatles, et al but rock and roll has been stealing from itself for fifty years and there is nothing uncommon in that. As a matter of fact, I would much prefer that they cop a couple of licks from The Beatles or The Kinks than Limp Bizkit or The Smashing Pumpkins. Enough said. The other reason I love Oasis is that they put a bit of fun back into rock and roll. The scandals, the taunts, the drugs and booze, the potty mouths. It all adds up for some quite entertaining reading! Even if Oasis were to break up, and I hope that they don’t, the Gallaghers, like the Davies and the Everlys and the Robinsons are stuck with each other. Oasis are our real life Spinal Tap. Like Nigel and David they are stuck with each other till death do them part. Patch it up again boys and get back to the studio. If you want to fight, do it onstage, preferably during the encore.
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Cool instrumental rock and roll is an increasing rarity in today’s rock and roll world but there are some bands still at it and one of the best is the Bambi Molesters. Hailing from Croatia, the Bambi Molesters should be an integral part of any rock and roll party mix CD. And having friends like Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey in your corner certainly doesn’t hurt. Check out the MP3s on their site and get ready for some cool Croatian rock and roll.
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Just recently a new book was released entitled Punk Rock Aerobics which applied the Punk esthetic to exercise but that’s chump change. If you really want to make it big in this world (as all you fans of The Apprentice are aware) business is where it’s at and if you want to be successful you have to take tips from those in the know. Well if you are a rock and roll fan, perhaps “The Donald” isn’t quite the right guy to serve as your mentor; you need somebody a bit edgier. How about Malcolm McLaren? The man who turned a bunch of scruffy punks into a, well bunch of scruffy punks with guitars called The Sex Pistols is selling his marketing expertise to the business world. I sometimes think that these rock and roll revolutions weren’t necessarily revolutions as much as new marketing campaigns for the youth of the day. Ahh, I prefer to stay naïve. Long live the rock and roll revolution man!
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I am currently blasting 10,000 Years, the latest CD from The Honeydogs as I write this. Great original rock and roll that I highly recommend. Quite unlike most of the stuff that I gravitate to. A worthy listen.
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I have wanted to feature the excellent Snap, Crackle, POP! Radio show hosted by Craig Leve for a while and I finally was able to slot it in for this week’s radio feature. Broadcast every Friday from 10:00 AM to 12 Noon PDT on KWVA Eugene, Oregon Snap, Crackle, POP! specializes in “classic pop from the ‘60s to today” but I figure the best way to get an idea of what kind of music it features is print a playlist from the week of April 9th:
Lane Steinberg LIVING IN A NEW WORLD (EM Japan, 2001/1986)
The Singles I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU (Rainbow Quartz, 2003)
Baskervilles THIS WAS THE WEEKEND (Secret Crush, 2003)
Ambulance Ltd HEAVY LIFTING (TVT, 2004)
*Interview w/ Marcus Congleton of AMBULANCE LTD
Ambulance Ltd MICHIGAN (TVT, 2004)
Ambulance Ltd YOUNG URBAN (TVT, 2004)
Jason Falkner BOTH SIDES NOW (Air Mail Japan, 2001)
Jason Falkner LOST MYSELF (Wreckchord, 2004)
Tim Reid TWO LEFT FEET (JAM/Pop Boomerang, 2003)
Fleetwood Mac SARA (Warner Bros., 2004)
The Hammersmith Gorillas YOU REALLY GOT ME (RPM UK, 2004/1974)
Buster SUPERSTAR (Castle UK, 2003/1974)
Brett Smiley VA VA VA VOOM (RPM UK, 2003/1974)
The Jook AGGRAVATION PLACE (RPM UK, 2004/1974)
Warwick LET’S GET THE PARTY GOING (RPM UK, 2003/1975)
David Celia FILL MY EMPTY CUP (diy, 2002)
Rich McCulley UNCERTAIN (diy, 2002)
The Riffbrokers HATCHETED HEART (Unsmashable, 2002)
Phil Seymour PRECIOUS TO ME (The Right Stuff, 1996/1980)
Herb Eimerman THE LAST GOODBYE (Jam, 2004)
Gingersol A GREAT DAY FOR WAR (Idea Prone, 2004)
Conrad CLOVERLAND (Swoop Canada, 2002)
Mavis Staples A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME (Raven Aus., 2003/1969)
Great stuff to prime yourself for the weekend ahead. Very cool.
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Did your band get burned when MP3.Com went bust? Well fear not because Garageband.Com has a service enabling you to retrieve your former MP3.Com account for free! The catch is your songs had to be enrolled in the Trusonic program by December 19th, 2003 to be eligible for recovery. If they were, go to the MP3 Transfer Site and get back your music!
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So your girlfriend says she loves the Stones and her birthday is coming up, or your husband claims to own everything recorded by the Stones bar none? Well get out your cheque book and get ready to bid on a true Stones rarity. Christies auction house has up for auction an ultra rare reel-to-reel tape recording of the Rolling Stones performing in 1963! Featuring tracks like Route 66, Come On and the ultra rare Our Little Rendezvous, with the estimate for this bit of memorabilia going for 20,000 to 30,000 British Pounds! Go ahead. Nothing says true love like a rare Rolling Stones recording, screw the diamonds.
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I don’t know if you are aware of the term earworm but it usually signifies some annoying song that you hear once and can’t shake from your internal record player for days as it keeps repeating itself endlessly until you either hopefully have it displaced by something else or you die. Well I have a similar term but it means just the opposite. Ear Candy to me is one of those songs that somehow pops into your head and sticks with you for days as you constantly hum it with a smile on your face while people look at you like you are some grinning idiot who’s iPod earphones must be hopelessly jammed somewhere down near your eardrums. Upfront with You by Universal Honey is my current ear candy. A great power pop song with a perfect hook and killer background vocals from their first album Magic Basement, I can’t seem to shake it from my head and this as been going on for at least two days. And I kind of like it that way.
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I am a late convert to Harp magazine but a happy one. The first thing that caught my eye when I started reading it was all those ads for musical instruments. Imagine that! Ads for actual musical instruments in a music magazine! I was stunned. Add to that all the cool articles and reviews of stuff and people I have heard about and a lot that I haven’t and you’ve got my interest (and subscription). The latest issue is no different. Check out those two bums on the cover. Believe it or not that’s Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck from the great and infamous Minus 5. Scott McCaughey is the kind of musician I really admire (my admiration for Peter Buck is readily apparent throughout this site so let me concentrate on a man who doesn’t get his fair share of press). He plays just about everywhere and with anybody. His taste in rock and roll is impeccable. He brought us the Young Fresh Fellowes. He pumps out great stuff with the Minus 5. I mean the guy is a rock and roll Johnny Appleseed. There are people that exist in this world that play music, not for the money or for the fame but merely because that is what they love to do and Scott McCaughey is one of these people. Buy In Rock and you will see what I mean. If Scott McCaughey is involved, it’s bound to be good.
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It still constantly amazes me when I come across a record label that I have never heard of but as soon as I check it out I wonder how I may have missed it in the past but hey, that’s the whole purpose of this site n’est pas? German based Screaming Apple Records is one of these record labels. In existence since 1989, Screaming Apple puts out great, loud sides of garage, power pop and punk from bands like The Bobbyteens from the U.S., The Smugglers from Canada, The Rippers from Sardinia and Teenage Confidential from Japan plus many, many more. All the bands have samples that you can listen to and they all rock and roll with attitude. Great stuff from a very cool label featuring great bands that are playing today. Check them out ASAP.
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Well the first Little Steven Battle of the Bands went down in Boston last weekend and the three finalists were: The Konks, Triple Thick and The DownBeat 5 with the well deserved winner being……The Konks! Congrats to all who participated and especially The Konks who are out there giving their rock and roll all much to the approval of all of us who still believe in rock and roll. And Boston, too bad about your Bruins. 
On to Providence, Rhode Island!
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Japan and rock and roll are fascinating together. The Japanese really like and know their rock and roll yet it is sometimes difficult to really understand what is going on there unless you either play or live there. I am trying to get a feel for the country’s rock and roll scene and in doing so I was recommended two magazines. The first is Strange Days. I have no clue what the actual text means but I have been investigating as many links as possible as well as using all kinds of online translation tools and what I am reading and hearing is all really cool. Not only is Strange Days a magazine but it is also a record label and I don’t need no stinkin’ translation program to listen to the MP3s there. Listen to some of this stuff for a really exotic rock and roll experience. Another highly recommended Japanese rock and roll magazine is Cookie Scene. They call themselves “Pop and Independent” and that caught my attention right away. Very slick and very interesting, they too have some wild MP3s that you can listen to so grab yourself a can of Sapporo and start downloading your way to Japanese rock and roll heaven. Make sure you have your operating system disks nearby, as you will probably be prompted for them to download Japanese fonts.
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I just came across a great article on Canoe that looks at rock band reunions focusing on the Pixies current second go round but taking a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. A good read.
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Remember when you were in elementary school and you went on those field trips to art museums and you couldn’t for the life of you figure out why people liked that stuff? Well for a whole different art experience check out The Museum of Bad Art. This will be the one time when you will actually smile, no laugh out loud and actually enjoy visiting an art museum. I know I did. (I am in no way insulting any artists or art museums for the sake of this post. One of my best friends is an artist and he is quite a cool guy. Actually some of my best friends are artists, although not bad like these. I’m trying to be as “PC” as I can, OK?) Like the saying goes “I know bad art and this is bad art!” Have a great weekend everybody.
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From the UK comes a great band called The Movement. They are currently unsigned but that shouldn’t last too much longer. Pretty cool stuff with a Northern Soul feel. Really fun to listen to, especially when you need a break from screaming guitars and vocalists once and awhile and they have a very impressive website where you can listen to song samples and check out their touring schedule. Another tasty piece of the rock and roll pie. Made me go searching for my one and only Curtis Mayfield album and re-watching The Commitments! It also reminded me of a time long ago when I played in a band with a horn section and how I would love to do that again. Ah memories…
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Creature
Moonshine Orchestra
The Snitches