"Sha La La La Man....."

What can be said about the genius of Lou Reed that hasn't already been said. Admittedly, the only song of his I knew until I was around 18 years old was "Walk on the Wild Side" which always sounded so alien to me on the radio. There was nothing else like it on the dial and it always left me feeling like I was being let into a naughty other world for three minutes. It exhilarated me and made me feel like I'd gotten away with something that the adults couldn't know about. Then at 18, and like everyone who first heard it, my mind was simply exploded by "The Velvet Underground & Nico" album. Nothing before or after sounded anything like it. It was like reading the best literature with the perfect soundtrack to a world you never knew existed.

In relation to how important their writing was to the history of rock and roll, only Bob Dylan compares to Lou for me. If Dylan in the early-mid 60's paved to way for writing about something REAL in popular music, Lou made it ok to write about the darkness of the human condition, all while also showing you a little bit of the light. He made it ok for the light and dark to coexist and made my naive 18 year old brain realize that's how life is man! With no one paving the way before him, Lou was a poetic punk with a heart filled with as much joy as there was sorrow. His writing, attitude, and guitar playing was so influential you could spend a month drawing a Six Degrees of Musical Separation map from Lou to almost anyone worthy of listening to. Younger music fans for the rest of time will be blessed for Lou's writing, whether they know it or not. I would say he will be missed, but the wonderful thing is that he really wont be.

Arcade Fire-Here Comes the Night Time

With a new album titled "Reflektor" due out October 29'th, last week the band Arcade Fire stormed onto our TV's with a high profile guest spot on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live". There, they played the new-wavy title track as well as another new tune "Afterlife". While the new songs and appearance were fantastic even by Arcade Fire standards, the band didn't stop there. What followed the SNL broadcast was one of the most bizarre and greatest short music films I've ever seen.

After "SNL", the band aired the brilliant twenty minute concert film "Here Comes the Night Time". Directed by Roman Coppola and featuring cameos by Bono, James Franco, Michael Cera, and Zach Galifianakis, the piece reminded me of being a kid and eagerly staying up late to catch a new David Bowie video when yes, TV used to actually air music programing. Clearly influenced by the classic and influential 70's and 80's music videos Bowie produced, the video has a vibe to it that makes you feel as if you're a fly on the wall at the hippest party on Earth. The new songs here are simply killer and like the rest of Arcade Fire's catalog; also clearly and cleverly influenced by Bowie. The new album is poised to be another brilliant entry into the band's already amazing catalog.

I've watched this thing about 10 times and can't get enough. Bravo, thank you, and welcome back Arcade Fire!!

I Shall be Released

This post finds me sitting in an ICU in Florida watching my father fight for his life. I fully realize people go through this kind of thing every day, but I haven't before. The range of emotion is simply staggering; fear, anger, denial, acceptance, grief, you fucking name it. But the most frustrating emotion that I can't wrap my head around is helplessness. The feeling that there's nothing I can do to make him better or ease his suffering is beyond anything I've ever felt.

Last night as sat in a quiet room with the exception of the steady purr of pumps and machines, I fell back on the one constant source of serenity in my life in all times good and bad; MUSIC! I wanted my dad to hear all of his favorite songs in the hope it would lift him up and inspire him to fight or give him some peace if he has no fight left.

All my love of music started with my parents and especially my dad. He was a guy who in the 1970s had an album collection in the thousands featuring everything from Charles Mingus to Boston. Genres didn't matter to him and guilty pleasures didn't exist. So I sat for hours last night and today, playing DJ to a one person audience who I couldn't tell was listening but I knew couldn't turn the channel. Music always has the ability to transport you to another time or place. It can remind you of the past or make you think about an alternate future. So many of my memories of my dad revolved around music. He took me to my first and second concerts (Neil Diamond-Jazz Singer tour/KISS-Destroyer tour) when I was 7 years old. I hoped the music would reach him now the way I know it did throughout the rest of his life. I played all of his favorites; Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, The Band, etc. As Dylan was singing to us the bliss of dancing beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, I asked my dad if he could hear it. He opened his eyes, squeezed my hand, and shook his head up and down ever so gently. I don't know how much the music is helping him, but as I sit and listen to these songs with him, I know they are helping me.

The beauty of Phox

Last month I was lucky attend the wonderful Mile of Music festival procured by hometown hero Cory Chisel. The 4-day fest featured almost a hundred bands all performing original material. No cover bands were allowed! It was a wonderful place to discover new bands, and by far the best discovery for me was the seven-piece Phox who all hale from little Baraboo, WI and now reside in Madison.

Led by enchanting vocalist Monica Martin, Phox is a wonderful blend of soul, folk, electronica, rock, and psychedelia. Monica's vocals are simply mesmerizing and their organic music is a wonderful slow burn; never in a hurry to get to one place. While they have yet to release a full length album, but you can listen to and purchase their two fantastic E.P.'s on the band's site. The week before I saw them, the band got a last minute invitation to play Chicago's huge Lollapolooza fest as a fill-in. The week after had them heading to Europe for the first time to play the Itunes Music Fest and other gigs. September will find them playing U.S. gigs opening for Blitzen Trapper.

Phox are my favorite musical discovery of the year and trust me that once more people are exposed to their wonderfully original blend, the world will be shouting about them. I suspect that day isn't too far off!

Songs you hear....

Greetings fellow music lovers! Below are a few songs that caught my ears in the past couple of weeks. If you're anything like me; with the glut of new music out there in this busy world, you find it hard to keep up. I do my best, but never feel like I even scratch the surface. Regardless; this cyber-space will be my dumping ground for the tunes that will hopefully enrich whoever stumbles on it.

The first one is a short, catchy piece of pop bliss from The Unlikely Candidates. I would've bet my meager pay check that these guys were English, but alas they are from Fort Worth, TX. They sure fooled me. That's ok.....a British accent in song is always welcome, even if it's fake (unless you're Green Day). This tune is getting a ton of play on various channels and deservedly so. Once it's in your head it's impossible to get out.

The next songs are maybe my favorites of the year, from New Jersey's The Front Bottoms. If I was a teenager, I would get a tattoo of their logo and these guys would be MY band! This is apparently their forth album so I'm really late to the party, but I'm so glad I showed up! I find their lyrics a brilliant mix of wit, heart, and hysterical observation that certainly don't sound like anyone else and the music suits them to perfection.

Turn these up and you're welcome!

  

Nomadic Bliss-Bombino

One of my great musical discoveries of 2013 is the album "Nomad" by Nigerian singer-guitarist Bombino (Omara Moctar). Masterfully produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, the album is rich with North African rhythms, vocals sung in the Tuareg language of Tamashek, and an endless supply of hot guitar jams from Bombino, who is said learned how to play by watching videos of Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler.

Bombino is from a nomadic "Tuareg" tribe which is an arabic term meaning "abandoned by God", and these are songs filled with an air of searching and discovery. Without understanding a word of the vocals, you feel you're being taken on a unknown journey that it both strange yet oddly familiar. Instantly likeable, this disc rewards repeat listening and is by far one of the best of the year.

 

The Return of The Replacements!!!

Whether they're consciously aware of it or not, every music lover has that one seminal band that opened their ears and hearts to the power of what music means to them. Those bands who completely change your perception. Like Dorothy walking from the black and white Kansas into the color of Oz. I have a few who did that for me (Bowie, Sonic Youth, Velvet Underground, Dylan) but the band I often forget about was The Replacements.

One of the "reunions no one ever thought would happen" occurred last night as The Replacements  triumphantly played their first gig since their unexpected "breakup show" in Chicago on July 4, 1991. And for 90 minutes with fists in the air on that hot summer day in 1991, no one was a bigger "Mats" fan than I. As an angsty 16 year old music freak, no one represented the power and glory of rock and roll like The Replacements. They merged the alienated, rebellious feelings of youth with three chord "crank it up" beauties that sounded as if they were written just for you. Like Pete Townshend, Lou Reed, and Bruce Springsteen before him, Paul Westerberg was able to write songs that broke through all the confused, messy, emotional shit going on in your head and made you feel you were not alone. And it was all done with the punk/pop beauty of songwriting that sounded instantly familiar even though no one else was doing it like them.

Even if The Replacements are now only Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson (Slim Dunlap had a stroke last year), their return is cause for a rock and roll celebration. While admittedly some of the songs from last night lack the fury of their 80's heyday, this is obviously understandable. And with songs that great, it really makes no fucking difference. Until I saw the videos from last night's show, I had forgotten how much their music meant to me as a youth. But with the magical power of music, was it really that long ago?

The Replacements, Riot Fest, Toronto, ON, Canada
1. “Takin’ a Ride”
2. “I’m in Trouble”
3. “Favorite Thing”
4. “Hanging Downtown”
5. “Color Me Impressed”
6. “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”
7. “Kiss Me On the Bus”
8. “Androgynous”
9. “Achin’ to Be”
10. “I Will Dare”
11. “Love You ‘Til Friday”
12. “Maybellene” (Chuck Berry cover)
13. “Merry Go Round”
14. “Wake Up”
15. “Borstal Breakout” (Sham 69 cover)
16. “Little Mascara”
17. “Left of the Dial”
18. “Alex Chilton”
19. “Swingin’ Party”
20. “Can’t Hardly Wait”
21. “Bastards of Young”
22. “Everything is Coming Up Roses” (From ‘Songs For Slim’ EP)
23. “IOU” FULL SHOW STREAM!!!