Stuck In My Head

Here's a nearly forgotten gem, and it's hard to believe it's been more than 20 years since its release. In the summer of 1993, California punk band Face to Face released "Disconnected" as a single, only to re-mix it for a subsequent EP and re-record it for a later album. That's a lot of mileage off of one track, but two decades later it's still a hell of a track.

Stuck in my Head

I found this tune last week when I posted about the 90s alt-rock nonsense lyrics supercut. And a week and half later, I can't get Sloan's "People of the Sky" out of my head. I didn't know this Halifax band at their admittedly modest zenith back in the 90s, but on the strength of this song alone I went and listened to more of their work. Sadly, the rest of the Sloan back catalog doesn't seem to stand up to this track. That's OK -- "People of the Sky" is just another perfect power-pop gem that is nearly gone ... and virtually forgotten.

LEGO me this, my brotha!

Where were these when I was a kid?  I loved LEGOS and music.  Combining the two rock my world.  You can get all sorts of great bands: The Smiths, Cypress Hill, Joy Division, The Beastie Boys, KISS, Blur...you name it.
LEGO ROCK BANDS

Stuck In My Head

I haven't listened to this in a good six or seven years, but I recently re-discovered Art Brut's 2007 album It's a Bit Complicated and once again I'm hooked. And now -- just like then -- the irresistible track that's stuck n my head is "Direct Hit".

There's no one in music quite like Art Brut lead singer Eddie Argus. He spends all of his time talking through his I-can't-believe-he-said-that lyrics while the rest of the band plays tight power-pop behind him.But Art Brut works in large part because of Argus. On this track -- and the accompanying video -- the literate Argus does just what you'd expect him to do: He's imploring a bunch of toga-wearing party-goers to overcome their fears of commitment and cajoling them to get on the dance floor, even if their friends have already left the party. It's a mouthful, and it may not be as direct a hit as just saying "Everybody Dance Now", but face it, it's a whole lot more fun.

Concert review: tUnE-yArDs at Rough Trade NYC

I love it when I go to a show with no expectations and come away wowed. That's what happened Wednesday night when I saw tUnE-yArDs at Rough Trade NYC in Williamsburg. In all honesty, I hadn't listened to a lot of tUnE-yArDs before, and the studio stuff I heard I was kind of meh on. I knew Merrill Garbus, the brains behind tUnE-yArDs, has faced criticism in some quarters for cultural appropriation but isn't that what music is all about? We wouldn't have had had the Rolling Stones or the British Invasion had English kids in the 1960s not appropriated the music of another culture, namely African-American rhythm and blues. And some of my favorite artists -- from the Beastie Boys to Damon Albarn -- could be accused of doing the same thing. So I'm not one for cultural criticism in this case.

Musically, tUnE-yArDs reminds me of a cross between M.I.A. and Graceland-era Paul Simon, if you can imagine that. Garbus relies on a lot of sampling and looping, so I wondered how that was going to work live. Turns out, it was very cool. Garbus would just drum a few bars, record what she drummed on her loop pedal, and build her backing beats on the spot. And that itself was entertaining to watch, as if it was all part of the show and not just sausage-making.

Someone at the show recorded a couple of tunes and posted them to YouTube. The audio is rough in spots, but you can clearly watch Garbus doing her loop sampling before launching into "Bizness".

And on this clip, it's a more straightforward performance of her current single "Water Fountain", in which I think you can really hear those M.I.A. and Paul Simon influences.

One more thought: Rough Trade NYC is a great place to see a show. It's small, intimate and it sounds great. And there's good beer on tap -- locally brewed Six Point for $7, which is what you'd pay in an actual bar. Plus the record store is open until 11pm, so you can shop between the opening act and the headliner. I can't say enough about the place!

'90s Nonsense Lyrics Extravaganza

Check out this nifty little mash-up of some of the best "Ooo Ooo's" and "Doo Doo's" from '90s era Alt-Rock. It was compiled by our friends north of the border at CBC Radio. And while you'll recognize most everything here -- including Blur's "Girls and Boys" and "The New Pollution" by Beck -- you may want to listen extra closely for favorites like Elastica's "Stutter" and "Friends of P" by the Rentals.

There's some real gems in here, too, like Canada's Sloan at 1:41 with "People of the Sky". There's a band I totally missed...

Hat tip to our friends north of the border at CBC Radio.

Step Back...

... it's the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion covering the Beastie Boys. That's right. Jon, Judah and Russell do their version of "She's On It" from the 1985 Krush Groove soundtrack. Oh, and it's mashed up with Link Wray's "Jack the Ripper." Rarely does life get this good.

Apparently JSBX has had "She's On It" in its repertoire for a few years -- the video above is from late 2012. But this week they officially released it for Record Store Day and you can hear that official audio here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7EE10DySOs