TERRELL'S TUNEUP: TENSION & ROMANCE

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
November 19, 2010

It has been five years since Martí Brom released an album (Martí Brom Sings Heartache Numbers). This was about the time she and her family moved from Austin, Texas, to Washington, D.C. I was worried Brom might have hung it up.

So seeing her new CD, Not for Nothin’, was a true sight for sore eyes — in more ways than one. The artwork, based on old detective-story pulp magazine covers, is one of the sexiest album covers I’ve seen lately. Trouble ahead, lady in red!

Brom makes sweet, rockabilly-informed, R & B-influenced retro country. Her voice has been compared to that of Patsy Cline. (Think Cline during her mid-1950s rockabilly flirtation, such as her tune “Stop, Look and Listen.”) But back during her teenage years, Brom’s main musical turn-on was proto-punker Suzi Quatro.

And one of the first times she played before an audience was when her husband, Bob, a career Air Force officer, convinced her to audition for an officers’ wives club musical called The 1940s Radio Hour, for which she sang “Blues in the Night.”

(Another cool tidbit about Brom: she allegedly named her daughter Ivy, now 20, after The Cramps’ Poison Ivy.)

Not for Nothin’ (subtitled Tales of Tension & Romance) is Brom’s tribute to singers, musicians and songwriters from the Washington, D.C., area. Fortunately, none of the songs have anything to do with government or politics. And even more fortunately, the album shows Brom in top form, despite her five-year absence from recording.

The first song is a fun little hopped-up bopper called “Finders Keepers” by Wynona Carr, a singer best known for her gospel songs though she later turned to R & B. Brom’s high-charged version is driven by a screaming sax.

“Mascara Tears” is a honky-tonk weeper written by Artie Hill, a fine performer in his own right. Backed by steel guitar and fiddle, Hill makes it weep.

One of the standout songs is one made famous by Elvis Presley: “A Fool Such as I.” The song, done here as a country shuffle, is a perfect vehicle for Brom’s voice. Elvis would be proud.

She teams up with D.C. picker/singer Bill Kirchen on “Sweet Thang.” It’s a delight, but also seek out the 1967 version by Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn.

Not For Nothin’ is full of spunk and heartache. It’s great to have Brom back.

Also recommended:

*  Tex-O-Billy by Suzette & The Neon Angels. Tejana almost became a dirty word during the recent gubernatorial campaign in New Mexico.

So maybe I should clarify that when Suzette Lawrence sings, “Yo Soy Tejana (I’m a Texas Girl),” I don’t think her purpose is to steal New Mexico’s water from working families. This song is a stomping rocker with some crazy slide and a melody similar to Terry Allen’s “Amarillo Highway.”

Lawrence left Texas for Los Angeles in the early 1990s. There she became a fixture at the Palomino Club and fell in with the “Town South of Bakersfield” crowd (her picture appears on the cover of the third volume of the album series of that name) along with the likes m Lauderdale, Rosie Flores, and James Intveld.

Now a Nashville resident, Lawrence also has roots in rockabilly. That’s obvious in the opening number, “Kitty Cat Scratch,” which also owes a debt to Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever.”

But good bluesy roadhouse roots-rock is Lawrence’s foundation. When she sings “Tear Up the Honkytonk,”  her fervor makes you take the threat seriously. And when she sings “Go Girl Go,” it’s tempting to shout along with her.

*  Eilen Jewell Presents Butcher Holler: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn. Jewell’s voice doesn’t really sound much like Lynn’s blue Kentucky drawl. And to her credit, she doesn’t try to imitate Lynn. But like any real country fan, Jewell clearly admires Lynn’s songs. Aided with an able country band and her unaffected alto, she does them justice in her own style on this appealing tribute.

She includes several of Lynn’s best-known songs: “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man),” “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “Fist City,” and “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” But she also does several lesser-known gems from the Lynn songbook.

There’s the defiantly religious “Who Says God Is Dead,” as well as the sweet adultery odes “A Man I Hardly Know” and “Another Man Loved Me Last Night.” And I had never heard the original “Deep as Your Pocket,” a song about a gold digger (“Her love for you is as deep as your pocket”).

Local alert: Born in Idaho and now living in Boston, Jewell, according to several sources, lived in Santa Fe around the turn of the most recent century, attending St. John’s College. Apparently she used to play at the farmers market. I couldn’t find her anywhere in The New Mexican’s computer archives. Anyone remember her?

A ROTTEN BLESSING FOR ROYAL COUPLE

John Lydon might have sung, "God save the Queen/she ain't no human bein'," with The Sex Pistols all those years ago, but according to an interview in The Sun, the Rotten one has nothing but nice things to say about Prince William and his bride-to-be.

"People think I hate the Royal Family, but that's not true. My animosity is towards the institution, not the people themselves. ... They really appear to have stars in their eyes. I can see it, and that is a lovely thing. So much more important than diamonds and tiaras. I can't stand it when people have a jealous reaction to this - saying she is a gold-digger and he is marrying beneath him. ... They'd probably be happy with a small wedding. But in their situation the State requires a load of pomp and ceremony. And why not? I love a bit of flag-waving."

Here's the Johnny Rotten I remember:

eMusic: Getting What They Wanted, Losing What They Had

eMusic, a subscription download service to which I subscribe, used to be known as a paradise for independent music.

Then last year they started hooking up with major companies. The price went up -- strictly coincidence, they assured the world -- but it was still a good deal.

Now they're adding another major, Universal, supposedly next week. And they're screwing with the price structure. No more credits. Now it's all dollars and cents.

But, the service just announced they're losing lots of independent labels: Matador, Merge and others. "This is as heartbreaking to us as it is to you," says a note on the eMusic Web forum. "Please know we have done everything we could to keep them from leaving."

Hopefully Norton, Bloodshot, Voodoo Rhythm and other favorites won't join the exodus.

I'll stick around to see whether eMusic remains a good deal. But, as Benjamin J. Grimm used to say, "What a revoltin' development."

UPDATE: Pitchfork has a story about this with label responses. Both Merge and Beggar's Group blame the new deals with the majors. Says Merge, "Unfortunately, eMusic’s unilateral changes in effort to bring on the major labels has created a situation where it would be harmful to the interests of Merge and our artists to continue our partnership at this time."

ALL YOU NEED IS HYPE

We hold patents on a few gadgets we confiscated from the visitors. Velcro, microwave ovens, liposuction. This is a fascinating little gadget. It'll replace CDs soon. Guess I'll have to buy the `White Album' again.


Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K in Men in Black, 1997

Yes, I liked The Beatles. Yes, they changed my life and made me want to start a band when I was in 5th grade and saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show. Yes, I cried openly when John Lennon was murdered in 1980.

And yes, I re-purchased several of their albums when they came out on CD -- mostly from the used bin -- though I truly believe almost everything you need can be found on Beatles For Sale (which I first knew as Beatles '65), Revolver and the Past Masters compilations.

So forgive me if I'm cynical about all the hoopla about the "unforgettable news" that Apple Corps finally reached accord with Apple iTunes and The Beatles catalog is available on iTunes.

Honestly, I was more excited when I stumbled across the MP3 of "Frankenstein Meets the Beatles" a few weeks ago. What did The Clash say about "phony Beatlemania"?

If nothing else you have to give credit ot  EMI or the surviving Beatles and their heirs or whoever for their amazing talent in creating publicity and fresh waves of nostalgia for the simple act of accepting technology that most of us accepted years ago.

They did the same thing 20 years ago when they finally agreed to allow The Beatles music to be sold on CD. The secret is simple: Just drag your feet for a few years and you've got the makings of a prefab Fab Four frenzy. It's an old trick, but when you're selling The Beatles, apparently it always works.

But let's get real. Those of you who own Beatles CDs, haven't you already ripped those albums, or at least your favorite songs from those albums, onto your computer? No matter what the RIAA says, you can do that and put 'em on your iPods too.

So no, Agent K, you don't have to buy 'The White Album' again.

Let's let the witty Beatle put this all in perspective:

SOME MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT TO START THE WEEK

This music can't help but make you feel good.

Enjoy some "Spike Driver Blues."

That's Pete Seeger introducing him. Not sure who the woman is. I wonder if Mississippi John ever answered her question at the end: "Why'd he have a big hammer?"

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 14, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Land of the Freak by King Khan & The Shrines
Catastrophe by Mark Sultan
Lovers Moon by The Tandoori Knights
Let Me Bang Your Box by The Toppers
By My Side by The Elois
Beer Time by The Ruiners
Zip My Lip by Pierced Arrows
Graveyard by Dead Moon
Two Bottles of Wine by Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
I Must Be Dreamin' by The Coasters

Back Off by The Diplomats of Solid Sound
Lovey Dovey by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
There But For the Grace of God Go I by The Gories
A Natural Man by The Dirtbombs
Muck Muck by Yochanan
Daddy You Lied To Me by The Del Moroccos
Rockin' Man by Richard Berry
Pink Champagne by Don & Dewy
Nervous by Willie Dixon & Memphis Slim

Martin Eden by The Twilight Singers
Sin Eater by Legendary Shack Shakers
Le Mistrail by The Fleshtones
Amazons & Coyotes by Simon Stokes
Take Up The Slack Daddy-O by The A-Bones
Hot Rodding in San Jose by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Jungle Fever by Grand Prees
Fattening Frogs For Snakes by Sonny Boy Williamson & The Animals
Pachuco Boogie by Orquesta Don Ramon

Pappa Legba by Pops Staples with The Talking Heads
I Walk on Gilded Splinters by Dr. John
Hoochie Koochie Man by Muddy Waters & The Electrik Mud Kats
Hoodoo Man by Junior Wells
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, November 12, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Wild, Wild Friday Night by Hasil Adkins
Chuckie Cheese Hell by Tim Wilson
Voodoo Bar-B-Q by Big John Bates
Get a Little Goner by Marti Brom
Baby He's A Wolf by Werly Fairburn
Kitty Car Scratch by Suzette Lawrence & The Neon Angels
Spitfire by Bill Logsdon & The Royal Notes
The Gravy Shake by The Defibulators
Lost to a Geisha Girl by Skeeter Davis
You Always Keep Me in Hot Water by Carolina Cotton with Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys

East Texas Red by James Talley
Hesitation Blues by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Hey Bub by Halden Wofford & The Hi Beams
Magpie Song by Delaney Davidson
Havin' a Ball by Kim Lenz & Her Jaguars
Untamed Love by Hipbone Slim & The Knee-Tremblers
Fort Wayne Zoo by The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band
Are You Ready for the Country by Southern Culture on the Skids

Kansas City Star by Roger Miller
Talking Bear Mountain Massacre Blues by Bob Dylan
The Fourth Night of My Drinking by Drive-By Truckers
A Man I Hardly Know by Eilen Jewell
High on a Mountain Top by Loretta Lynn
Thirty Days in the Workhouse by Peter Case
You're Going to Love Yourself in the Morning by Brenda Lee & Willie Nelson
Black Wings by Ray Wylie Hubbard

The Big Battle by Johnny Cash
Walking to the End of the World by Amy Allison
A Girl In The Night by Ray Price
The New Bye and Bye by Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez
American Boy by Eleni Mandell
I Belong to the Band by Mavis Staples
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: YOUNG BOB'S DEMOS

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
November 12, 2010

It’s probably no big surprise to anyone who regularly reads this column that of all the many faces of Bob Dylan — folkie Bob, country Bob, gospel Bob, singer-songwriter Bob, Las Vegas Bob, etc. — my favorite is electric Bob. And it’s probably a good thing that I didn’t go to the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 or see a performance from that tour in 1966 where folkies were screaming “Judas!” at him. I’d have been the 12-year-old Okie kid in the cheap seats shouting “Turn it up!”

But even for us rock ’n’ roll die-hards who secretly believe that Dylan’s career really began with the rockabilly/Johnny Cash-informed “Mixed Up Confusion” instead of with all those acoustic ditties, there’s no denying that the genius that is Dylan — the rebelliousness, the humor, his grasp on history, and his insights into the American character — is readily apparent in his earliest songs.

That’s the main thing I pick up from the latest (ninth) volume of Dylan’s Bootleg Series, titled The Witmark Demos 1962-1964.

Here is a kid in his early 20s who was about to transform the entire song-publishing industry — as well as expand our concept of folk music and the boundaries of rock ’n’ roll — singing earnestly in that tiny studio at M. Witmark & Sons, his New York publishing company in those days.

These versions of his songs were not meant to be heard by the general public. They were recorded quickly and transcribed into sheet music so the publishing company could pitch them to other recording artists. Back in those days, few singers actually wrote their own songs. (That custom was changed not in small part through the efforts of one Bob Dylan.)

The sound quality is lo-fi, not to mention inconsistent. Some tracks truly sound like bootlegs. There are false starts and obvious mistakes. For instance, “Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues” begins with a Dylan cough. And he stops after one of the verses, explaining that he’d recited the wrong punch line to a verse.

So basically, although there are several of Dylan’s best-known songs included in this collection — “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Masters of War,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” (played on piano), and (of course) “Blowin’ in the Wind” — this is a collection for fanatical fans who like to see how the Dylan sausage is made.

I like the more obscure cuts the best. You’ve got to wonder how many times must record companies put versions of “Blowin’ in the Wind” on a Dylan album. (The answer, my friend ...)

One of my favorites is “Bear Mountain.” As with some of the more “serious” tunes Dylan wrote during this period — “Ballad of Hollis Brown” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” come to mind — this song was ripped from the headlines. Dylan read a newspaper account about an ill-fated Father’s Day cruise up the Hudson River. Someone had counterfeited tickets, and the overloaded boat sunk well before it reached Bear Mountain.

Several were treated for injuries, but nobody was killed. Dylan saw the wicked humor of the situation and, according to legend, wrote the song overnight. “Just remember wakin’ up on a little shore/Head busted, stomach cracked/Feet splintered, I was bald, naked.” I still laugh when pondering how a boating accident can make you bald.

Another old favorite here is “Rambling, Gambling Willie.” Like “Bear Mountain,” this was recorded back in 1962 but never made it to an “official” album until the first Bootleg Series collection in the early ’90s. (Most real Dylan fans heard these from real bootlegs long before there were CD box sets.)

The melody of “Willie” came directly from the Irish song “Brennan on the Moor,” which Dylan’s pals the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem recorded back in the folkie days. Willie Brennan was a Robin Hood-like “brave young highwayman” who divided his loot with “the widow in distress.”

Dylan’s Will O’Conley shared his winnings with the poor as well. But apparently a large chunk of his income also went to child support. He’s a womanizing card shark who had “twenty-seven children, yet he never had a wife.” Dylan Dylan assures us “ He supported all his children and all their mothers too.”

And who would have ever thought that “Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues” would ever be relevant again? Dylan says, “Well, I investigated all the books in the library/Ninety percent of ’em gotta be burned away/I investigated all the people that I knowed/ Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go.”

Unfortunately, the sound quality of this version is so bad that it seriously detracts from the listening experience. (Someone has to be responsible for that. The Commies? The vast right-wing conspiracy?) Seek out instead the live versions on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6:  (his  1964 concert at Philharmonic Hall) or The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3.

The Witmark sessions also have a few gems I’d never heard. One of these is “Gypsy Lou,” an ode to what sounds like the sexiest heartbreaking hobo girl alive — “a ramblin’ woman with a ramblin’ mind/Always leavin’ somebody behind.” And downright lovely is y tune about looking at trains and recalling a friend who died a tragic death.

One thing these demos do is show how Dylan was appropriating old blues tunes as his own from the beginning. “Standing on the Highway” is basically a rewrite of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” And “Poor Boy Blues” owes a small debt to Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” and a big debt to Howlin’ Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning.”

If you think Dylan dropped this habit, listen to his composition “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” from 2006’s Modern Times or “If You Ever Go to Houston” from last year’s Together Through Life.

Bob Dylan turns 70 in May. Not quite as amazing is the fact that the Dylan Bootleg Series will be 20 years old next year. I’m hoping the next one will be full of rockers. Or maybe a duets album of recordings and live songs he’s done with others. Maybe Sony can find two CDs worth of Dylan stuff from the ’80s that didn’t suck. Maybe a crazy rocked-out show from “The Never Ending Tour” from the last 10 years or so.

Even if Volume 10 consists of songs Dylan sang in the shower, it’s bound to add to the enigma that is Bob.

.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, November 8, 2010
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Chicken Flop by Hasil Adkins
Psycho by The Sonics
Big Fat Alaskan by Donnie and the Outcasts
Doghouse by The Screamin' Yee-Haws
Hog-Eyed Man by Th' Legendary Shack Shakers
Killer 45 by The Immortal Lee County Killers
I Came From Hell by The Monsters
I Don't Dig Your Noise by Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Journey To The Center Of A Girl by The Cramps
I Lost My Kielbasi by Dave Stacey

Tandoori Party by The Tandoori Knights
Dumb All Over by Frank Zappa
Hetero Skeleton by Butthole Surfers
Everythinng's Wild in Wildwood by The Treniers
Evil! by Grinderman
Busload of Faith by Lou Reed
Go Berserk by Mark Sultan

Leyenda Negra by Movie Star Junkies
Vaseline by Kid Congo Powers
Lusty Lil Lucy by Nick Curran and the Lowlifes
My Time Will Come by Andre Williams
She's a Liar by Thee Ludds
Love/Hate (Eat Me Alive) by The Ruiners
Surfbored by Make-Overs
She Can Rock by Little Ike

Cosmic Shiva by Nina Hagen
Kurious Oranj by The Fall
Tombstone Blues by Bob Dylan
New York Is Killing Me by Gil Scott-Heron
Last Train by Mavis Staples
The Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry) by Etta James
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

Subscribe to The Big Enchilada Podcast! CLICK HERE

eMusic November

* Sin & Soul... And Then Some by Oscar Brown Jr. I sought this album out mainly for a song called "Mr. Kicks." It portrays the devil as a one snazzy, jazzy cat with a slick, bongo-beatin' early '60s style. "Permit me to introduce myself ..." the narrator says. I bet The Rolling Stones heard this before they wrote "Sympathy For the Devil" a few years later.

But that's just one of  the great songs here. It starts off with "The Work Song," which Brown co-wrote with trumpeter Nat Adderly. There's also a vocal version of Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" (I'm most familair with John Coltrane's version) and  a song called "Watermelon Man" -- which isn't the Herbie Hancock standard, which came out around the same time (later becoming a hit for Santamaria.).

And most stunning is "Bid 'em In" This is an a capella song, except for occasional drum beat, in which the narrator is a slave auctioneer. "She's healthy and strong and well-equipped/ make a fine lady's maid when she's properly whipped," he sings of one of the slaves on the auction block.

Before he was a recording artist, Brown was a journalist and political activist. As a teenager in Chicago, he was a writer for Studs Terkel's radio show Secret City. In 1944 Brown hosted Negro Newsfront, America's first black radio news broadcast. He ran for Illinois state Legislature and for U.S. Congress, but lost. He'd been a member of the Communist Party but left -- or kicked out -- in the mid 1950s, partly because of his concerns over the puritanical nature of the party and what he considered their stifling of creativity and art. But Brown, who died in 2005, remained active in protesting the Iraq War.

This album is a great introduction to this fascinating artist.

* Curry Up It's The Tandoori Knights by The Tandoori Knights. Canadian rockabilly Bloodshot Bill might be the logical person to step in and heal the rift between King Khan and BBQ.

After all, just this year he's released records with both -- recording as The Ding Dongs with BBQ (Mark Sultan) and as The Tandoori Knights with Khan. Maybe he could instigate the melding of the two -- a trio called "The Tandoori Dongs."

If I had to choose between the two, Tandoori Knights would get my nod. It's got the same spirit of lo-fi rockabilly zaniness as The Ding-Dongs. But there's also a flavor of East Indian exotica here.

Plus I like their sour-grapes dismissal of DIck Clark on the song "Bandstand."

* The Kudzu Ranch by Southern Culture on the Skids. Some folks dismiss Southern Culture on the Skids as a novelty act. I’ve probably done it a couple of times myself.

After all, for more than 20 years the musicians have cultivated a goofy faux-hillbilly image wearing funny hats, cheap sunglasses, backwoods/thriftshop clothes — and singer/bassist Mary Huff sports a beehive that would frighten most bees.

The only thing is, while they’re plenty funny, these North Carolinians are real musicians. As a trio (most of the time), SCOTS is a tight little outfit, playing a unique blend of country, rockabilly, surf, swampy R & B, garage, occasionally bluegrass, and exotica. Huff has a voice as big as her hair (I always hope for more songs where she sings lead), and Rick Miller is a fine rock ’n’ roll guitarist.

See my full review HERE

Plus
I spent a more than usual amount of my credits on stray tunes instead of full albums like I usually do.

* Two songs from Rare Rock N' Roll Masters, namely "Monster's Holiday" by The Plainsmen (a rocking version of my favorite Buck Owens novelty Halloween hit) and "Mojo Workout" by Larry Bright, just so I could share it with my pals on Real Punk Radio's Mojo Workout show. There's some other interesting looking stuff on this collection, as well as some crap ("Bingo" by Pat Boone for instance. Why was he trying to lead the children astray into the dismal world gambling addiction?)

* Speaking of Halloween, I downloaded three tunes from Halloween Classics: Songs That Scared The Bloomers Off Your Great-Grandma just for my radio shows. I got "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" by Rudy Vallee & His Connecticut Yankees (a Henry VIII satire); "Ghost in the Graveyard" by The Prairie Ramblers; and "'Taint No Sin" by Fred Hall. which ha almost a western-swing feel to it. Tom Waits, using William Burroughs on vocals, revived this bizarre little ditty for The Black Rider back in the '90s.

* "The Ex President's Waltz" by David Massengil. I heard this strange little folk tune 3 or 4 times on KUNM back in the mid '80s and have been looking for this song for years. It has a verse for each living ex-president at the time -- Carter, Ford, Nixon, plus one for JFK and one for the then-current president. Funny, yet touching in a weird way. Great song for election season.

* "Collegiana" by Waring's Pennsylvanians. I always loved The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version on their 1968 album Rare Junk. It's a snazzy little 23-skidoo number about college life in the '20s. "Danced til I dropped, and I'll never stop!" It's on a compilation called Collegiate 1920s that has some other cool Roaring '20s jazz craziness. I might pick up some more tracks someday.

* Two of the three tracks from Take A Good Look Bonus Tracks Super Rock! I picked up "Time Will Tell" and "Le Mistral." I already had "Bigger and Better." This reminds me -- Take a Good Look was The Fleshtones' previous album and that was in early 2008. Good news is they've been working on a new one, and apparently Lenny Kaye is involved on at least a few tracks. Meanwhile, you can watch this documentary about the band, Pardon Us for Living but the Graveyard Is Full for free right HERE.

* The five tracks I didn't get last month from Phosphene Dream by The Black Angels. And they're just as good if not not better than the first ones I downloaded. Read my full review HERE