Movie of the Week - The Height of Goth 1984: A Night at the Xclusiv Nightclub

The Height of Goth 1984: A Night at the Xclusiv Nightclub, Batley, West Yorkshire UK

 

Black Flag at Mudd & Peppermint Lounge (1981)

Via Hardcore Show Flyers

The Ramones and The Runaways (1978)

Courtesy of Hardcore Show Flyers

Before & After - I'm Shakin'

Before - Little Willie John (1960)


During - The Blasters (1981)


After - Jack White (2012)

Dust & Grooves at Tropicalia In Furs, July 6

Dust & Grooves: A Photo Exhibition About Vinyl Record Collectors

Friday July 6th, 2012 | 7PM
Tropicalia In Furs
304 E 5th St. New York, NY

Facebook Invite

Get more info at Dust & Grooves

Screamers and The Zeros (1978)

Courtesy of Hardcore Show Flyers

Stone Roses - The Second Second Coming

Hat tip to the Quietus. It may be time for the Brit Pop version of Yacht Rock.

Circus Magazine commercial (1978)

Hat tip to Dangerous Minds

Jobriath AD: Coming soon to a screen near you

Follow the film on Facebook

Follow the film on Twitter

Official website: http://www.jobriaththemovie.com/

More CBGB memories from Nightclubbing

Pat & Emily from Nightclubbing continue their series of posts over at East Village Local. This week they remember the Dead Boys at CBGB circa 1977.

The Dead Boys held a special status at CBGBs. They were managed by the club’s owner, Hilly Krystal, and played there more than any other band.

We loved the Dead Boys. They were the ultimate American punk band, the one that could go up against the Sex Pistols and prove what a NYC band could do.

Read the entire thing including a word from the Dead Boys' Jeff Magnum, and see more video, here.

The Hives announce more US tour dates

 If you've never seen these guys, or are in need of a ritual cleansing, the likes of which only a great rock & roll band can provide, do yourself a favor and go see the Hives. The September dates below were just announced.

THE HIVES TOUR DATES:  

June 27 - Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargo's (Tickets)

June 29 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest (Tickets) 

June 30 - Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre (Tickets)

September 6 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom (Tickets)

September 7 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo (Tickets)

September 8 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom (Tickets)

September 10 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater (Tickets)

September 11 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory (Tickets)

September 13 - Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Tickets)

September 14 - Los Angeles @ The Wiltern (Tickets)

September 16 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks (93.3 KTCL Big Gig) (Tickets)

The Hives' new album Lex Hives is available now on iTunes.

Ultra-rare Konk video surfaces!

Thanks to Konk's Geordie G. for making available this super rare video for Konk's self-released debut single, "Soca Loca Moki" (distributed by 99 Records)! It was recorded in 1981 at Noise New York Studio, mixed by Frank Eaton, and features Shannon Dawson, Dana Vlcek, and Richard Edson

Konk links:
iTunes - http://tinyurl.com/85l2azw
Website - http://konknyc.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/konkmusic

Daily Travels - uptown E train

Movie of the Week - Who Is Poly Styrene? (1979)

Remember the influential vocalist & songwriter here.

Chicks dig vinyl

Courtesy of Andrea Nū via Ed Ward

The Orb Announces New Album Featuring Lee Scratch Perry - free download!

Check out, pre-order, and grab a free download from the upcoming new album by Orb featuring the one & only Lee Scratch Perry!

Recorded in Berlin over the last few months, THE ORBSERVER in the star house sparks with a rare magic as Dr. Alex Paterson and long-time Orb member Thomas Fehlmann construct a panorama of perfect, stripped-down backdrops for the Upsetter’s inimitable pronouncements, righteous declarations and sweet vocals. The album's inception can be traced back to 2004 when Dr Paterson played a DJ and toaster set with Lee in Mexico. “I had an amazing time being that close to the great man,” enthuses Dr. Paterson. “I played a dub set, Earl 16 was Greg Dread’s toaster, Mad Professor had his ladies, then there was the legendary Lee Scratch Perry; he’s a genius who expresses the future within the present times of anguish, hope and unity.”

Visit the official Orb website for more info & a sample track.

Movie of the Week - Can: The Documentary (1999)

 In honor of Jackie's epic review of The Lost Tapes (recently released by Mute Records), here is a 1999 documentary on Can.

Punk rock Linus

Daily Travels - Brooklyn bound L train

A Night At CBGB by Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong

Friends of the blog, Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong, today launch what is being billed as regular column on the East Village Local in which they "...sift through their voluminous archive of punk-era concert footage as it becomes part of the Downtown Collection at N.Y.U.’s Fales Library. They’ll share their favorite stories and clips along the way." All I can say is hallelujah. And that I'm jealous of the East Village Local.

Here's how it begins:

Pat: On a hot sticky night in July, 1975, I began videotaping punk bands at CBGBs. It was during the CBGB Rock Festival of Unrecorded Bands, with 40 groups that formed the core of the nascent music scene downtown. I was part of Metropolis Video, a video collective of eight, most of whom worked at MCTV’s public access department. That first night, we shot Blondie (still doing some covers, like the Velvets, Femme Fatale), the Talking Heads on their third or fourth gig out of RISD, and the Heartbreakers, a downtown super group with Richard Hell, who had just left Television, and Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the Dolls. It was their first Manhattan date. It was exciting and we shot now and then for about a year but the center would not hold and the collective dissolved.

Luckily, I met Emily Armstrong and after a night seeing Patti Smith at CBs, she agreed to work with me and a new partnership was formed. Our first band was the Dead Boys in 1977 and we continued for the next four years, often at CBs but also at other clubs like Max’s, Hurrah’s, Mudd Club, and Danceteria. Read the entire thing here.

Visit the official website for Pat & Emily's Nightclubbing here.

Susan Tyrrell RIP

 Susan Tyrrell - RIP

LeRoy Neiman RIP

LeRoy Neiman - RIP

NYC's Meatpacking District 1987

Take a walk with Nelson Sullivan through New York's meatpacking district circa 1987. These days I refer to it as the douchebag district. For more check out his YouTube channel here.

Jackie Says: Listen to The Lost Tapes by Can

CAN - THE LOST TAPES (Mute Records 2012) 
-------------------------------------------
Contributed by Jackie McKeown (fearless leader of the following bands: 1990s, The Mars Hotel, and The Yummy Fur, and resident of Glasgow)

-------------------------------------------
My first encounter with Can was in the late 1980s. Me and some pals made the 400 mile journey from Glasgow to London to see Neubauten play at the Astoria. Having no friends to crash with, we slept rough in the streets. The next morning we made the journey to the Rough Trade shop on the Portobello Road. It was like an Aladdin's Cave of musical treasures. It felt good blowing Thatcher's girocheques on Pussy Galore albums and the beautifully sleeved 'Yu Gung' 12". My mate took a chance on a copy of the Cannibalism double album. Can was a name that'd been floating about since we'd ditched our Duran Duran Duran albums for the Velvet Underground. Actually, I think I was first aware of them thru a cover of 'Mushroom' on a Mary Chain single from '87.  Anyway, we caught the hellish megabus back to Bonnie Scotland and sat up all night listening to this bizarre compilation over and over again.

The Malcolm Mooney-era tracks made the deepest cuts. 'Father Cannot Yell', 'Outside My Door' and 'Yoo Doo Right' seemed to pick up the baton dropped by the Velvets when Cale got booted out for being too interesting. It took us a while to fully appreciate the Damo Suzuki stuff. 'Mother Sky' fit right into our noise-fixated teen psyches but some of the other stuff seemed a bit....well......'funky'. You have to understand that, living in Glasgow in the late 80s, the only time you heard funk was via the blue-eyed-soul of Hipsway and Love & Money whom we wished upon a slow, miserable death. It wasn't till we started bombarding our bodies with drugs that the joys of Funkadelic, Yoko Ono's 'Fly' and Damo-era Can opened up to us. I think with every passing year I've come to appreciate them that little bit more. They're probably the only band I can think of where, no matter how many times you've dived in, there's always something new to be discovered from within their icy teutonic grooves and warm bubblebath glow. But I truly miss that mainline hit of hearing something like 'Oh Yeah' (my favourite) for the very first time. Well finally here's a chance to do exactly that.



Thanks to (Can keyboardist) Irmin Schmidt's wife's incessant nagging, they've finally rolled up their sleeves and set about documenting what lies at the back of the cupboard. And the fruits of this is The Lost Tapes. A three CD set covering the band's unreleased history from 1968 - 1975. I wanted it. And I wanted it yesterday or sooner. Luckily I remembered that my good friend and all-round stand-up guy Tim B. had been pestering me to write something for Stupefaction. I immediately hit up the caustically funny but warm-hearted Zoe at Mute Records and promised to have 500 words on her desk by Monday morning if she'd send me a copy to review. It is now midnight on Tuesday and I'm due an as yet unknown but surely vile punishment for missing my deadline. Fuck it. I have the recordings and there's 400 miles between me and my sweet executioner. Anyway, this is what I wrote after listening to the whole thing three, maybe four, possibly five times over. Bear with me, this is not a review for the layman (it's not even a review, certainly not in the commercial sense). I can't be arsed knocking out a potted history of the band. If you're unfamiliar with their music or back-story, track down 'Monster Movie', 'Tago Mago', 'Ege Bam Yasi', 'Future Days', 'Delay 1968' and 'Soundtracks' then type 'Can (band) wiki' into yr browser. If yr of the herbal persuasion, call yr guy and order a man-size bag too. You'll be glad you did when the first sweet moments of 'Bel Air' or 'Halleluwah' trickle into yr wee fluffy ears. Anyway, here's me talking at you about german hippies from the future we call the 70s. (Con't after the jump.)

The Sound of New York (1959)

The Sound of New York, via. Written by Kenyon Hopkins, and produced by Creed Taylor. If a Mingus record isn't available, perhaps this one will do.

Sal P (Liquid Liquid) at the Gin Palace tonight!

This just in from Sal Principato, noted DJ and member of Liquid Liquid:

There's a sweet new venue that just opened: GIN PALACE at the corner of Ave A and 6th St

http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2012/06/gin-palace-opening-new-york-menu-photos-slideshow.html

I'll be spinning all of our favorite tracks some of which you never have heard before

there's Gin on tap and cheap beers
cool make that cold drinks galore
a fine ambiance and if I do my part even finer people

there's no cover
I'm on from 10-2am or when you say when

please join me tonight to really make this place "something new"
or at least 'old time something come back again

Daily Travels - downtown Q train

Punk in Woodstock - Eileen Polk photography on display thru July 1

The girls of Revenge, 1977 - a famous East Village punk/new wave clothing shop at the time on Saint Marks Place: Cherly, Barbara & Natasha

Eileen Polk

If you happen to be passing through the town of Woodstock NY between now and July 1, I wanted to mention a very cool photo exhibit at a gallery in town called Ai Earthling at 69 Tinker Street. A relatively new establishment, Ai Earthling is making an impressive effort to bring some downtown attitude & history to the famous hippie district (thanks Richard!).

The first show is by famed NY-punk photographer Eileen Polk, and next on the schedule is NYC hip hop's own Ricky Powell. The prices are extremely reasonable & there is plenty to see for a gallery on the smaller side.

For more information:
Hours: Thursday - Sunday 12 noon to 5:30 pm.
Phone: 845.679.2650
EMail: ai.earthling[@]facebook.com

Debbie Harry of Blondie backstage at the Palladium, late 70's

Sid, Nancy, and Jerry Nolan, NYC, circa 1978

Electric Circus interior, 23 St Marks Place, NYC, 1967

Electric Circus interior, 23 St Marks Place, NYC, 1967. Via.

Movie of the Week - Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire De Melody Nelson

Melody Nelson, a short film directed Jean-Christophe Avery, based on Serge Gainsbourg's 1971 album, starring Serge and Jane Birkin. Click here for the complete story.

Movie of the Week - Lenny Bruce: Swear To Tell The Whole Truth (1998)

Friday Ephemera: 1965

Courtesy of Its All the Streets, Village Voice ads, 1965 part 4

Friday Ephemera - Secret Public membership ID card

Buzzcocks fanclub ID card circa 1978. Courtesy of Goldmine Trash.

An Antidote To Indifference: Caught By the River

  For those of us who might, once in a while, prefer something physical in our hands as opposed to a screen & keyboard, I'd like to suggest the latest issue of a wonderful 'zine from the fine folks at Caught By the River - An Antidote To Indifference. With articles drawn from the blog, as well as some new ones, issue #3 of AATI includes pieces written by such UK music literary luminaries such as Kevin Pearce, Nik Cohn, Andrew Loog Oldham, Jon Savage, Bobby Gillespie, and quite a few others. Not to mention its all lovingly edited & published by Jeff Barrett & Robin Turner of Heavenly Records. There's some serious pedigree going on here. All this & much more! Get it straight from the source right here.

Jack Nicholson digs vinyl

Via Life. Thanks to Mark Kamins.

Listen to The Seperate: Orchestral Variations Vol. 1

Literally years in the making, The Seperate: Orchestral Variations Vol. 1 is an excellent new album put together by Keith Cullen - the man responsible for some of the more interesting UK indie releases of the last 20 or so years, especially during the Brit Pop-era, via his Setanta label. Think along the lines of Edwyn Collins, Divine Comedy, A House, The Frank & Walters, and Into Paradise...you get the picture.

Never one to sit still, Keith has been laying pretty low for the last few years when it comes to the music biz, and getting on with other things. But this project has never been far from his mind, and has finally come to fruition. Very basically a farewell of sorts to the music business, its a collection of fairly classic & well known songs, sung by contemporary artists over beautiful orchestral arrangements, all selected by Cullen.

Here's a statement from Cullen on his long absence from the biz, and his motivation for releasing this album: I've run a record label most of my working days and music has been (and continues to be) an enormous part of my life. However five years ago I stopped signing bands, making records with them and releasing music with the gusto that kept my record label afloat for the best part of fifteen years. I felt old and had no desire to keep going to the same gigs, going through the same rigmarole of spurting over-enthusiastic shite-talk about how some new artist was going to be huge. I didn't want to feel embittered about how old fart my taste had become, being the bald old bloke at the back of the venue trying to be enthusiastic about some hot new band who didn't quite have the attitude of the Ramones, the art house take of Talking Heads, the spunk of the Pixies, the youthful energy of early U2, or the kookiness of The Cure. So I stopped releasing records and started writing instead.

The record you hold in your hand (or have on your computer) is the only music related thing I've been involved with for a long time, and its taken a long time to finish because I've been focused on other non music things in life. Sometimes I think about how my record label's profile ceased to have any relevance when other like-minded labels, like Domino, Bella Union and Wichita kept going, and through their own perseverance and determination found great breakthrough acts and I feel happy to be out of the game.

I still listen to music as much as I always did, but now I'm a fan rather than an industry person. The tracks on this record are songs I have always loved, sung by singers I love. Making this record has been a selfish exercise, and all the more enjoyable for it after years of being the person whose spent most of my working life finding an audience for other peoples 'art'. Not that this record is 'my album' in any way, I didn't do anything, just paid the musicians, picked the singers and the songs and paid the recording costs. But it feels like a good 'final' record to put out on my label. I like it, I hope you do too.


Tracklisting:

01 Something to Believe In with Ed Harcourt
02 Video Killed the Radio Star with Anais
03 Once In A Lifetime with Paul Noonan
04 Close to Me with Mark Lanegan
05 This Night Has Opened My Eyes with Joan as Police Woman
06 Big Sky with Jaymay
07 Souvenir with Stephanie Dosen
08 Ghost Town with Scott Hutchinson
09 Stories for Boys with Martha Wainwright
10 Gigantic with Charlotte Hatherley
11 Old Town with Patrick Wolf
12 West End Girls with Brian Molko



Buy direct from Setanta here.
The Seperate official facebook page.
Buy on Amazon UK.
Available on iTunes from July 2.

TALKING HEADS: Early Mixes

Fear of Music (Early Mix)

01. Cities
First minute is unfortunately somewhat garbled, but source tape is fine after that.
02. Electric Guitar
03. Life During Wartime
04. Drugs
05. I Zimbra
06. Mind
07. Heaven (Basic)
08. Heaven (#2)
09. Animals

Download here.

More Songs About Buildings and Food (Early Mix)

01. With Our Love (5.4MB)
02. Stay Hungry (4.0MB)
03. Big Country (8.4MB)
04. The Good Thing (4.7MB)
05. Artists Only (5.5MB)
06. Warning Sign (6.0MB)
07. B. Angel (3.4MB)
08. Take Me To The River (7.8MB)
09. I’m Not In Love (7.0MB)
10. Girls (5.5MB)
11. Found A Job

Download here.

Before and After: Riffs, Part 32

Before - Dexys Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen"


After - Butch Walker & The Black Widows "Synthesizers"

Friday Ephemera: Screen On the Green (1976)

The famed Screen On the Green punk concert from 1976 in London featuring the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Buzzcocks. The Islington High Street theater is still in operation today! This ultra-rare bit of punk history can be yours for a mere $2000. Click here for more info. And no, its not Friday, but really...does anyone care?

Freeform or Death: A Documentary About WFMU

FREEFORM OR DEATH follows Ken Freedman, the manager and leader of the world’s oldest freeform radio station, WFMU, and his fight to keep the station afloat through an economic collapse, in a dying industry, with an increasingly Internet-addicted audience. At 51 years old, Ken’s whole life is strapped to a station that faces crumbling infrastructure, encroaching institutional forces, and internal generational conflicts. Will his 25-year effort to keep WFMU alive be enough?

Visit the official Kickstarter page here. Visit the official film website here.

Movie of the Week - 23 Skidoo Home Movies

23 Skidoo Home Movies, on tour in Europe, 1982-82, directed by Richard Heslop

  

Go Right Ahead: New Video From the Hives

Movie of the Week - Gregouka: 23 Skidoo Live

Gregouka: 23 Skidoo Live, directed by Richard Heslop