Tuesday 31 December 2013

The Inspector Cluzo - Hello Goodbye Education

Excellent Video...

a track from their fourth album 'Gasconha Rocks' out on Suicidal Records/Fuckthebassplayer Records.
This documentary is well worth seeing as well. They're real grafters.


Another rock band channelling 1970's boogie and funk, and delivering the goods.

Author & Punisher - Tour Dates

...is Tristan Shone. In this guise he does this sort of thing-

Amazing isn't it?
Live Punishments 2014:
w/ Corrections House
1/05/2014 Echoplex - Los Angeles, CA
1/06/2014 Soda Bar - San Diego, CA
w/ Philip H. Anselmo And The Illegals, Hymns
1/10/2014 Warehouse Live/Studio Room - Houston, TX
1/11/2014 Riverside Warehouse - Shreveport, LA
1/13/2014 Pop's Nightclub - St. Louis, MO
1/14/2014 Waiting Room - Omaha, NE
1/15/2014 Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
1/17/2014 El Corazon - Seattle, WA
1/18/2014 Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR
1/20/2014 Ace Of Spades - Sacramento, CA
1/22/2014 Metal Masters - Los Angeles, CA
1/24/2014 Pub Rock - Scottsdale, AZ
1/25/2014 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
1/27/2014 Backstage Live - San Antonio, Texas
1/28/2014 Trees - Dallas, Texas
His 'Women and Children' LP is still available on Seventh Rule- 
 

A389 Recordings 10th Anniversary Bash Weekend Baltimore 16-18.01.14

Exhumed/Iron Reagan Split

split 12" out on Tankcrimes 07.01.14. Gore and Thrash-alanche

Film - Mayor of the Sunset Strip (2003)


Documentary about legendary DJ Rodney 'on the Roq' Bingenheimer (he broke glam rock, punk, new wave, britpop, alt-rock and tons of sub-movements in the States + created the legendary/notorious English Disco in LA (underage groupies in the 70's)). I always had him down as virtually a pimp working his way through all the underage girls with the sexually abusive lunatic Kim Fowley, but this documentary caught my attention 6 minutes in with the following exchange -
"Do you wish your life had been different?"
"Yeah actually." Followed by a look of pure despair!
This is actually a fascinating look at a generation of kids with poor parents. They fled the abuse or neglect and headed for LA/Hollywood. Rodney is a tiny put-upon figure; bullied at school; with a mother who was so ill-equipped that she was divorced by the time he was 3; and when he reached his teens she dumped him and his suitcase outside the house of a TV star he had a teen crush on...and abandoned him! Rodney's escape was into celebrity (a trait of his mother's) and music, especially if made by pretty English boys. He's like this Zelig figure who first crops up in The Monkees and is then seen with, works with or is photographed with everyone who was famous...EVERYONE! Simultaneously he is the de facto leader of all the other abandoned kids, with his wing-man Fowley. He had this despairing puppy-dog look that made all the girls want to mother/sleep with him. By the time this documentary was made though, the look is just despair. Just about everyone he loved/loves let him down. It happens several times during the filming (in particular the interview with him and Camille on the bed...you'll know the one). I am actually really surprised he allowed such an invasion into his private hells. What saves him though is his two passions. His uber-networking skills provide a living via celebrity, and he has a handful of very close friends there as well (Nancy Sinatra, Cher and Joan Jett are very good at explaining how alone these people really are). His immense love for 'positive' music meant he could discover and break all the great rock-pop that streamed out of Britain in the 70's from Glam to Punk, which, in turn provided careers with the English Disco and then KROQ Radio where he effectively created THE radio format for at least a decade in the US. Even that is failing him by the time this doc is filmed. The money-men and young shits are side-lining him and/or stabbing him in the back. AND he didn't do any of this for the money!
It is a great, albeit heartrending, story and brilliantly told and developed. Finally, at the heart, is this peculiar friendship with Fowley. I have to declare an interest here. I cannot forgive Fowley for what he did or allowed to be done to The Runaways (there is an unreleased doc called Edgeplay which occasionally surfaces...see that and you will understand) BUT I am reasonably certain that he is a genius. What he sees, is what Rodney doesn't, that they were effectively a couple of damaged kids/tramps that fought and fucked their way through the Cali-bullshit and survived, and are still surviving, and longevity in Hotel California is darn near a miracle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EDp2oHQaRI

Beyond the Red Shift - May 2014

Incoming concept-fest! 

Collectress - Mondegreen


They have a self-released debut album coming out March 2014. This caught my eye...double cello lineup and hint of Mahler!
 

Beehoover - UK Tour in March 2014


UK TOUR DATES:
Fri 21 March 2014 London - Black Heart
Sat 22 March 2014 Cardiff - Moon Club
Sun 23 March 2014 Bristol - Mothers Ruin
Mon 24 March 2014 Plymouth - Tiki Bar
Tue 25 March 2014 Oxford - The Wheatsheaf
Wed 26 March 2014 Salford - The Eagle Inn
Thu 27 March 2014 Edinburgh - Banshee Labyrinth
Fri 28 March 2014 Glasgow - 13th Note
Sat 29 March 2014 Birmingham - Scruffy's
and their latest album is out on Exile on Mainstream Records-
 

Sunday 29 December 2013

Film - Coonskin (1975)

"Warning -This film offends everybody!"

A satire of racial stereotyping; of Disney's Song of the South; and what the blaxploitation genre had become in particular. A furious attack on all sorts of power-bases both criminal and otherwise. This is about as far down as Ralph Bakshi could take it. There are no heroes. Everyone is vicious, brutal and corrupted. Yet the film design (live action and animation as only Bakshi can do it) is superb. The whole Madigan sequence is incredible, and the hatred for this monster is palpable. The boxing sequence, and the Godfather and his wife sequence also stand out. Controversial but unmissable film which Paramount dropped immediately!

Friday 27 December 2013

Film - House (Hausu) (1977)


Nobuhiko Obayashi's utterly crazy but unmissable comedy-horror-ghost-fantasy film. Everything is slightly out-of-whack, in particular the skies! Seven largely annoying girls go to stay in a haunted house. You know what's going to happen...but it's HOW it happens that is incredible! The most inept schoolteacher ever also has a psychedelically-comic role. Great design and imagination.

Thursday 26 December 2013

The Sonic Wizard (of Aldershot)

with love and thanks to Goatess Doomwytch (and Antony) (and Tim Sayer for the original photo of me)

ILSA - 120 Days


A stormer from their 'Tutti il Colori Del Buio' album which is to be re-issued (with bonus tracks from splits) by A389 Recordings in early 2014 and new stuff to follow.
Rather than the album sleeve let's have a still from the film from which the title was borrowed
Edwige Fenech!

Toxic Holocaust - Acid Fuzz (and Exhumed)

Now THIS is a vid, from the band who opened my, er, dance mix in this mondays show!

Chemistry Of Consciousness is out now on Relapse Records
North America tour with the incredible Exhumed on a Relapse double-header

TOXIC HOLOCAUST/EXHUMED North American Live Assaults 2014
w/ Ramming Speed, Mammoth Grinder
1/22/2014 The Studio - Seattle, WA
1/23/2014 The Biltmore - Vancouver, BC *
1/24/2014 Branx - Portland, OR
1/25/2014 Oakland Metro - Oakland, CA
1/26/2014 The Joint - Los Angeles, CA
1/27/2014 The Observatory - Santa Ana, CA
1/28/2014 Club Red - Tempe, AZ
1/29/2014 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
1/30/2014 Tricky Falls - El Paso, TX
1/31/2014 Mohawk - Austin, TX
2/01/2014 The Limelight - San Antonio, TX
2/02/2014 Fitzgerald's (downstairs) - Houston, TX
2/03/2014 Three Links - Dallas, TX
2/04/2014 Chameleon Room - OK City, OK
2/05/2014 Marquis - Denver, CO
2/06/2014 Ernie November - Cheyenne, WY
2/07/2014 Club Manhattan - Salt Lake City, UT
2/08/2014 The Alley - Sparks, NV
2/09/2014 Midtown Barfly - Sacramento, CA
*No EXHUMED
but then-
TOXIC HOLOCAUST/EXHUMED European Invasion 2014:
2/22/2014 East Club - Bischofswerda, DE
2/23/2014 Underground - Kƶln, DE
2/24/2014 Merleyn - Nijmegen, NL
2/25/2014 Underworld - London, UK
2/26/2014 Queens Hall - Warwickshire, UK
2/27/2014 Ivory Blacks - Glasgow, UK
2/28/2014 Hobos - Bridgend, UK
3/01/2014 Ieper Winter Fest - Ieper, BE
3/02/2014 Glazart - Paris, FR
3/03/2014 Le Saint des Seins - Toulouse, FR
3/04/2014 Sala Sonora - Bilbao, ES
3/05/2014 Hard Club - Oporto, PT
3/06/2014 Sala Lemon - Madrid, ES
3/07/2014 Sala Estraperlo - Barcelona, ES
3/08/2014 Secret Place - Montpellier, FR
3/09/2014 Schlachthaus - Dornbirn, AT
3/10/2014 Freakout - Bologna, IT
3/11/2014 Kiff - Aarau, CH
3/12/2014 Feierwerk - MĆ¼nchen, DE
3/13/2014 Arena - Wien, AT
3/14/2014 Conne Island - Leipzig, DE
3/15/2014 Firlej - Wroclaw, PL
3/16/2014 Magnet - Berlin, DE
3/17/2014 Pumpehuset - Copenhagen, DK
3/19/2014 Nosturi - Helsinki, FI
3/21/2014 PĆ¼ssy a Go Go / The Liffey - Stockholm, SE
3/22/2014 Revolver - Oslo, NO
3/23/2014 Truckstop - Gothenburg, SE
3/24/2014 Hafenklang - Hamburg, DE
3/25/2014 Schlachthof - Wiesbaden, DE
 
 

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Film - Heavy Traffic 1973

One of a run of features by Ralph Bakshi which were seriously pessimistic social commentary, set in the decaying NYC, of the early 1970s. Sexist, racist, misogynist, misanthropic...you won't see this on tv as part of the design was to offend. There are no good guys or heroes. Just unpleasant characters caught in vicious times. However, the design is brilliant. Bakshi has his own signature mix of animation and live action, and it really is perfect here. New York seems to drift physically and in time, and it is rotten. Gay rights, civil rights, workers rights, the mob, the fuzz, Italians, Jews, the establishment, sex workers, the disabled, hustlers, religion, even god...everything and everyone is considered and found wanting. A masterpiece

Film - InspiraciĆ³n 1949

A short (11mins) animation from Czech director Karel Zeman. A glass-blower seeks inspiration in a raindrop. The water, crystal and, most of all the lights are just beautiful.

Film - Death Powder 1986

Horror/Sci Fi low budget lunacy from Shigeru Izumiya. It's a cult classic with fans of Tetsuo, Eraserhead, Videodrome. Rough and yet great visuals and sound design. There's sort of a story but that doesn't really matter. 63mins long and recommended.

Redneck - Possession


If he survives he's got a cassette/DL release out 31.12.13 on Eolian Empire, called Possession. And he's live 1/03/2014 Tonic Lounge Portland - Portland, OR w/ Corrections House, The Body, Rohit!
Now, shall we have a bit more? 

Hull - Viking Funeral reissue

Woah! 250 (125 purple/silver swirl, 125 black/silver swirl) limited edition, hand numbered, Viking Funeral vinyl EP repress released on Iron Orchestra Works (HULL's own imprint). Includes new jacket design and B-side laser etching with artwork by Jorden Haley (Bird Ov Prey), digital download card, and parchment insert with artwork by David Cook (Bone Thrower) 
It's a beauty ain't it? 
How does it sound (and this is where you can order one)?

THE OSCILLATION - No Place To Go


Well they have several 'places to go' cos they're touring in January ha ha-
The album 'From Tomorrow' is out on All Time Low/Hands In The Dark 
 

Torres - Honey


I missed this one, but she does give it some hammer. Debut self-released album- 
Nothing to see here but another storming performance 

Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound


Want! 4 Albums or 2 CDs out now through The Numero Group.

Oooooooh

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Death`s Door LIVE @ Frankfurt Festhalle 04-12-2013

Having these guys as tour support for Sabbath was a stroke of genius. Ozzy has never denied the Beatles influence but he veers toward the McCartney side of them, whereas Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats channel Lennon. Just check this out...it's like the poster says, you don't expect much from arena gig supports but dang this is a brilliant performance!

I like the "what the Fuck!?" camera pan in as the filmer realises they are great. Also note security man digging the music front and center. This is their current album out on Rise Above Records
but for satans sake don't miss their previous outing Blood Lust 

 2014 EU/UK TOUR DATES. More to come...

March

13 TRIX, ANTWERP, BELGIUM
http://www.trixonline.be/site/content/programma.asp?id=1378

16 MATRIX, BOCHUM, GERMANY
http://omn.wlec.ag/index.php?view=bestplatz&id=241
...
28 ROCK CAFE ST PAULI, HAMBURG, GERMANY
http://omn.wlec.ag/index.php?view=bestplatz&id=245

29 LIDO, BERLIN, GERMANY
http://omn.wlec.ag/index.php?view=bestplatz&id=242

30 HYDROZAGADKA, WARSAW, POLAND
https://www.ebilet.pl/bilety.php?id=80459

April

01 LUCERNA MUSIC BAR, PRAGUE, CZECH REP.
http://www.ticketpro.cz/jnp/hudba/kluby/1205669-uncle-acid-and-the-deadbeats-uk-.html

02 BACKSTAGE, MUNCHEN, GERMANY
http://omn.wlec.ag/index.php?view=bestplatz&id=243

03 NACHTLEBEN, FRANKFURT, GERMANY
http://omn.wlec.ag/index.php?view=bestplatz&id=244

04 L'USINE, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
http://www.starticket.ch/0ShowInfo.asp?ShowID=69163&ShowDetails=1&Language=F

05 BLOOM CLUB, MEZZAGO, ITALY
http://www.ticketone.it/biglietti.html?affiliate=ITT&fun=search&action=search&doc=search%2Fsearch&detailadoc=erdetaila&detailbdoc=evdetailb&kudoc=artist&sort_by=score&sort_direction=desc&fuzzy=yes&suchbegriff=uncle+acid

07 KASERNE, ROSSTALL, BASEL, SWITZERLAND
http://www.starticket.ch/0ShowInfo.asp?ShowID=69202&ShowDetails=1

11 AN CLUB, ATHENS, GREECE
http://www.viva.gr/tickets/music/uncle-acid/

12 EIGHTBALL CLUB, THESSALONIKI, GREECE
http://www.viva.gr/tickets/music/uncle-acid/

22 O2 ACADEMY 2, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND
http://www.seetickets.com/artist/uncle-acid-and-the-deadbeats/662710

23 G2, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
http://www.seetickets.com/artist/uncle-acid-and-the-deadbeats/662710

24 ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
http://www.seetickets.com/artist/uncle-acid-and-the-deadbeats/662710

25 KOKO, LONDON, ENGLAND
http://www.seetickets.com/artist/uncle-acid-and-the-deadbeats/662710

Crocodiles - Teardrop Guitar


Cracking tune which creeps up on you behind that guitar hook. The whole album does this - Zoo Records and it's been out for a while now...
 

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Paradise9 - Take Me To The Future

Intergalactic-altruists Paradise9 have managed to release a video for the new single...a space-chant on behalf of us all

You've heard great chunks of their album, of the same name, on my shows. Go grab a copy at eye-toons etc or direct from these good people at http://www.paradise9.net/merchandise.htm
It's weapons-grade spacerock from people who want the weapons to stop!

The Toby Mearing Radio Show 23rd December 2013


Wednesday 18 December 2013

THE BYRD WHO FLEW ALONE - The Triumphs And Tragedy Of Gene Clark

Excellent film length 'Rockumentary' about this original and key member of The Byrds, precursor/inventor of Country-Rock and Americana, early singer-songwriter...you get the picture - he was ahead of his time. I'm not going to give you a history lesson, the film does that very well, but incase you don't know here's a track from one of the great unsung albums of the 70's...well, all time.

OK? Right. and here's a B side from 1968

So a genius. No more music here, the film is stuffed full of it and those are his triumphs. The themes are a man torn between two worlds, but a man who could go to other worlds as well. The first theme is that Gene loved being a rock star in LA (No Other), but also had a completely seperate idyllic 'fantasy' life with his wife and kids in Mendocino (White Light). He spends most of the film travelling between these extremes. He writes great songs; makes wonderful albums in LA that he is satisfied with artistically; but then cannot deal with the resulting pressures and music business shenanigans (he was terrified of flying and didn't want to tour to promote his work!) and returns to Mendocino, while his 'product' and contracts nosedive. He never settles. And this brings us to theme two. There are several eyewitness accounts of his songwriting process where he appears to astral-project in front of people and return with these incredible songs. "He never read a book" and yet his lyrics are superb! He was part native-american indian so you can join those dots. His wife Carlie also explains that when drunk his native-american indian self was looking down on him, in his mind. It's mystical poet time and they deal with this element really well: vast alcohol and drug problems/inexplicably complex and beautiful music.
Almost all of the key-players are interviewed and are uniformly moving, humorous, passionate, compassionate. Crosby, Gene's brother and Gene's wife Carlie Clark are particularly gripping. Just watch that point when Carlie is talking about a particularly upsetting time and starts frantically stroking her dog - very moving body-language that they pan out slightly to catch.
Beautiful shots of his America. There are also a lot of great stories - Gene's totally justified attempt to beat the buffoon Joe Cocker to death is absolutely hilarious.
Highly recommended and available here (with a load of DVD extras) http://foursunsproductions.com/Shop/

Saturday 14 December 2013

Henry Blacker - Hungry Dogs Will Eat Dirty Puddings

Stuff 2013, here's one of the best albums of 2014. Finally England provides a credible power trio response to ZZ Top and Josh Homme-ness activity! One of the (many) things I like about Hey Colossus is their unrepentant Rockist streak, and boy is that made manifest on this offshoot. Fans of 70's heavy boogie will love it, but it'll also appeal to folk that dig Clint Foetus, Rapeman, Pixies, Kyuss, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, and the new Belligerants in the Midlands and North. But Henry Blacker hail from Somerset! They take their name from
"Modern Colossus" Hey?
It's available for pre-order on vinyl and cassette from Riot Season Records (released 21 January 2014), and the cassette is strangely appropriate because these 8 musings on aging, power, and failure are driving music. This is the cassette that the maniac in the monster truck is playing as he tries to mow you down in a 70's drive-in movie. It's the cassette Kowalski is playing to keep his drug and fatigue-addled mind alive as he heads for the Vanishing Point. Now I am aware that one member of this band does a heck of a lot of driving...
Anyway here's a taster. The album starts with a riff that would sit quite happily on the Grand Funk; Blues for the Red Sun; or Deguello albums but within seconds the Henry Blacker English Power-Boogie identity is patented. Some of the vocs treatments are classic Billy Gibbons (the Manic Mechanic sprang to mind). The passage that commences at 1:45 is the absolute SHIT!

Will be out in US on Learning Curve Records. 

Thursday 12 December 2013

MK Groove Orchestra - Live at Studio BPM Vol 1

Ok listen to this

incredible isn't it? Obviously the wall of horns is what hits you first, and saluteage to Lisa Mcquade for blasting over the top. But there's a R'n'R band hidden in there. Here they are

Funk, Africa, Rock, Cuba, Space, Complexity, Free. Michael Kammers has built something rather wonderful...here they are a while ago. Just be aghast at Joe Beaty's trombone from 5:35. Playing trombone is like trying to play a trumpet with your buttocks. A solo like this is superhuman

The Album is out December 17 on RopeADope records
I enquired about their rockier side, after playing them on my Radio Show and got sent this 

I get ya

Lydia Lunch - Black Juju (Live @ A38, Budapest, 2013.12.08)

This band was special from the get-go but earlier this week they achieved this. Late contender for guitar solo of the year at the beginning, and then they appear to invoke a demon. Staggering performance, Weasel just goes right down there...

Wednesday 11 December 2013

twothirtytwo - All I Want For Christmas is You

Not at all what you'll be expecting. Psychosis, despair and a wormhole to a silver seam of redemption...

...maybe. Aldershotians, don't forget this (and I've heard that the wonderful Wildeflower have been added to the bill)
 

Tuesday 10 December 2013

The Octopus

Well I was first attracted by this hilarious video

"Genlemen you are each profoundly flawed..." Ha ha, anyway I thought occult rockers fronted by an androgenous sexpot, and with a wicked sense of humor...wrong 

Dark shoegaze with a song Blondie would have killed for? still fronted by an androgenous sexpot thankfully...wrong

Desert Rock pitched somewhere between Blue Oyster Cult, Patti Smith Group and Steppenwolf! Ok I had to give up here, but that's 3 great songs in a row. They're from Detroit and seem to have released 4 singles on Bellyache Records, all 4 of which were contained in these 8 beauties for Record Store day 
What a great band...her name is Masha by the way...and Masha is NOT wrong!
 

Hot Lunch - She Wants More

This features one of the best riffs I have ever heard.
Holy smoke! Another of these punker/jammer outfits from San Francisco & Oakland. Debut album is out on TeePee Records (USA) and Who Can You Trust (Germany). There's a nice selection sountrackin' this...(I have no idea what anyone in this doc is talkin' about by the way but you skaters will understand)

bonus points for shit hot artwork
 
 

The Toby Mearing Radio Show 9th December 2013