noise number 3

and it still is . . .

background noise

another saturday night . . .
s.a. is chattin' and i am rummaging. . .
in the mid 80's my sis, angel, and her friend tim started this really cool underground mag, 'background noise'. it was written on the fly, printed on the sly, passed out at local gigs, on streetcorners and record shops ... and it carried on for a good couple of years.

everything was fun at that time, the bands in new orleans were many and diverse. and with a ton of great venues like the dream palace and jimmy's it had room to grow, altho like all good things, some good people died and the rest moved on.

but, from the straight-up rock of 'force of habit', the psycotic-pop styings of 'multiple places', the doomed 'outside children', the ex-patriot 'monsters' and the dreaming 'random sample' the whole scene had a very communal feel. everyone playing and writing with everyone else. very intoxicating times...

and not just that, back then the whole music scene was poppin'; the replacements and husker du, the paisley underground bands like the three o'clock and rain parade, the north carolina/georgia connection with r.e.m., let's active and love tractor.

well, i was a contributor for the rag and got to write basically whatever the fuck i wanted; interview bands, record reviews, write bizarre short stories, or anything that filled a space. so my bits were, well, a lot like this blog.
the stuff above is a song-poem that never got to be a song and a drawing i did for the cover of 3rd issue.

i kinda quit doing alot of that stuff, went to college to write for a college paper, then concentrated on music after that.
i should do more of it i know, but i guess it will have to wait for now, til we get back home.

a few mp3s from new orleans bands, 20 or so years ago (via yousendit):
multiple places - fistfull
outside children - no big hurry
the monsters - born erect
random sample - i saw the whole thing
beggarman thief - the black cat
(more about the children and monsters et al later) . . .

oh, i think this is prolly my ex-future-step-son-in-law

the tattered cover

sky - sailor's delight

i saw a post on 'good rockin' tonight' about the knack, ya know, those 'my sharona' guys. i love the knack, the whole beatlesque attitude thing they had going and my lil sis was bonkers for them, i remember her acting knack-maniac when we took her to see them open for the kinks in'79. they were such a teenybopper band, but the songs rocked.
when i found out doug fieger was the leader of the band i started digging in the archives. he was also in a band called 'sky'. i had bought their 1971 lp 'sailor's delight' right around the time i got 'muswell hillbillies' and 'bangla desh'. i got it mainly because it was produced by jimmy miller with andy johns on the board, had ian stewart on piano and used bobby keys and jim price on horns. that just so happened to be the backing line-up for the best set of rolling stones records at the time, ('let it bleed', 'sticky fingers', and the soon to be released 'exile on main st.'). see, this was back in the day when i would buy a record just for the cover, and just loved it when it turned out to be great.
when i listened to it i was blown away. i played it over and over, front to back, made tapes of it for friends and generally spread the word, (it's that good a record).
i never heard from them again, (they broke up just after the release of 'sailor's delight'), and they kinda faded from memory, except the 'sailor's delight' lp, which would always sound fresh when i'd slap it on the turntable.
it is nothing like the knack material. the songs are varied from the stripped down rock of 'make it tight' to caribbean ballads and wonderful epics like 'lowdown', it is a brilliant record, the production is super clean and the songs are very well written and concise. unfortunately, it is unavailable on cd, and it is not even listed in ebay on vinyl, (i prolly have one of the few remaining copies, that sucks, mine is worn and scratchy, this needs to come out on cd!).
so i dusted off my sky lp, ripped and cleaned it up and dumped these wondeful 'lil pieces of bric-a-brac here for your consideration.

the best of the very-hard-to-find 'sailor's delight' lp in mp3 (via yousendit):
bring it on back
lowdown
make it tight
let it lie low

. . .i had nothing to say

with all good intentions

another saturday night . . .
the girls are plowing through the sopranos 5th, (after the preliminaries of the 1st 4).
feeling somewhat bored and a bit inspired i had to play with something on the back-burner.
i had this buddy that would always bitch that i never answered his calls, (which was true enuff), and this song was the result. the first time he heard it he knew, the wise-ass.
but i think it was really about all my past failed relationships. it was just that i was not real attentive, i got a little distracted at times...i meant to be good, i wanted to be on time, i shoulda called... it all just didn't look good, always having a lame excuse.
i would like to think i am a little better at such things, (s.a. says i am), but this still rings too true.
well anyways, this is a saturday extra, of course, with all good intentions...

mp3 from soundclick:
'with all good intentions'

i was gonna write you this song, but the music didn't fit and the words were too long.
and then the dog took the tape, now it's buried in the yard, i won't find it 'til spring . . .
but that's ok, i had nothing to say.

i meant to call on the phone but mom dropped in with dinner a'la yesterday.
she stayed to tell me the news about my uncle sonny-jim and how i'm headed his way.. .
but you wouldn't know 'cos i never call.

i was gonna write you this song,
i meant to call on the phone.
i'm gonna buy you some flowers,
take you out on the town,
or come by your house just to hang around.
i'll make you promises long,
i'll make you promises deep,
i'll make you promises hard,
i'll make you promises that i know i can't keep.

i was gonna come your house with fresh-cut flowers and a bottle of wine.
but i ran into an old friend and to make up for lost time, well, we drank all the wine.
but you wouldn't know 'cos i never call . . .
ooh yeah, but that's ok . . . na na na na na na na

(© m.a.sample - wreckreation media 2005)

honey, would you like some warm, new music?

some great blog bands

the internet is an amazing thing and the plethora of great music from all over the world is overwhelming. so much so that is is hard to digest it all. i download so many songs a day that it's gonna take me months to try and savor it all. not all of it is good or near-good, but every now and then something makes it all worthwhile.
the point is, there is so many different sounds that abound as to please every taste.
when i started putting up my songs on the web in 1998 there was only mp3.com, garageband and one or two other free band hosting sites. today there are way too many to count. not just that, the blogs have alot of aspiring musicians that are able to spread their word thru the net. i am glad that i am part of the whole thing, trying to carve a little niche, making friends and not needing a contract to do it.

so, here are some friends who are a big part of the blog band scene;

chris plays guitar are from fresno cali, playing great bar-room rock-n-roll. they stay very busy apparently as their schedule is always full, (and they also have the foxiest girl fan club i have seen since my day). sonicfrog is the bass player mike's blog, which is where i found billy harvey, and chris plays guitar (thanks mike!)

dfactor is a one man band that lives and plays in new york city. he writes some very cool pop music. the new song, 'ashley's lament' is classic 60's power pop, a new fave in the wreckroom!
waved rumor is dfactor's blog about all the musical goings on in the apple.

the babylon cowboys are jenny and dave, who reside in oxford england. jenny has a great soulful voice that fits dave's songs wonderfully. they are busy too, (everyone but me it seems), running the band weblogs site, and the bar blog.

new spring mp3s:
dfactor - ashley's lament
chris plays guitar - roadside cafe
babylon cowboys - reflection
m.a. sample - you can't cheat an honest man (sorry man, gotta plug my band too!)

'the seed'

the red dog saloon

we spent saturday shopping and stumbling around virginia city, the old haunted mining town . it's only 30 mins from reno, but it's really a world away from anywhere.

clinging to the side of a mountain and gazing over the depleted comstock mines, the town looks much the same as it did a hundred and thirty years ago, with costumed cowboys and dancehall girls everywhere you look. and except for the slew of novelty shops and hordes of motorcycles, you'd think you really were in the old west.
it has a very checkered history, being known for it's lawlessness, burning to the ground in 1875, being called the first industrial city in the u.s., boasting almost 30,000 residents at its zenith and where samuel clemens lived when he adopted the nom de plume 'mark twain' while working on the local newspaper 'territorial enterprise'.

the main drag, 'c' street, still has the wooden plank sidewalks that run in front of buildings that resemble a living western movie set. i swear there must be more saloons per capita than anywhere in the world, (it is said the town once had 100 saloons!). there seems to be one saloon every other building on the street, with names like 'the bucket of blood' and each having some relic or attraction devoted to the past.

we were really looking forward to visiting the red dog saloon again, but were pretty shocked to find that it no longer existed.
the history of the red dog is quite different from the city it was born in. originally known as the long branch saloon, then the old comstock hotel, the red dog saloon is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the 1960's psychedelic movement.
in early 1965 a group of bay area ex-patriots moved to virginia city and bought the abandoned comstock hotel. they spent months refurbishing the dilapidated building, and opened on june 29th with the charlatans, (dan hicks and michael wilhelm included), playing their debut concert, (they played there 6 nights a week for the next 3 months, with the scene getting bigger and wilder).
the poster designed for the show, (now called 'the seed'), is thought to be the first example of psychedelic concert art. and it was the first l.s.d. fueled show, with owsley passing out his homemade potion to patron and band alike.
the 4' by 6' in-house light show created by bill ham is also credited as the precursor to the flamboyant effects that later graced many a stage and album cover.

over the next couple of years almost every band from the growing frisco music scene had either visted or played at the red dog, (janis joplin supposedly had her own special table). but eventually the bands strayed away as the movement grew, and so the legend was born.
the red dog changed hands a few times and had been closed on and off since it's heyday, but i thought it would be there forever . . .

we stood there and looked at 76 n. 'c' street in disbelief. it was only a shell now . . .
the red dog had just re-opened in '03 when we went in for a drink and marveled at the ambiance of the place; the old musty posters, the reeking incense, the ancient chandeliers and mirror behind the beat-up bar. there was a small stage in the rear and the walls were still a shiny blood-red, but one got the feeling that the place had been remodled once or twice since '65.
since we prolly won't be back this way again, i would've loved to see it once more but i guess not, (i am a sucker for historical places and hate to see them disappear).
well, as they say, 'que sarah, so what' . . .

mp3s (yousendit):
the charlatans - codine blues
the mystery trend - stop-get a ticket

the life and times of the red dog saloon (an excellent documentry dvd with footage of the charlatans, the dead, the airplane and other west coast psychedelic bands in the early days)

make the pie higher!

i'm writing this on a little piece of paper . . .

we've been dissecting the new nine inch nails album, 'with teeth', and think it is a pretty damn good sonic interpetation of orwell's classic novel '1984'.
not sure if that is what trent intended, but that it how the albums settles. it is dark and disturbing, (as you would expect from the nails), and it is as raw and glorious as walking in winston's world of distrust, media manipulation and misguided loyalty, and finding julia, only to lose her . . . (read the book).
orwell was only 20 or so years off anyways . .

but underneath it all, it is a statement about the current situation of the nation.
musically, it is much better than the last cd, the bloated 'the fragile'. trent strips the band down to a three piece for the most of it, using the power of the amps, rather than the board. the album utilizes the drums of david grohl to power the progress. the bass is awesome, rumbling, blasting and popping as tho it's gonna split the svt cabinet, while the guitars, shimmering and menacing, punch in and out. and trent never seeemed more in control of his voice . . . teasing, sinister and pissed off mad.

it really has the feel of an updated sound vision of '1984'. here is a dissolute character unsure of his unreal surroundings. he is faced with overwhelming feelings of . . . dunno, of today?
maybe that is the feeling . . . we kinda feel lost too, these days.

like a sequel to the decade old 'the downward spiral', it picks up on the alienation, isolation and paranoia of modern love and life. . . but now the feeling is vindicated with the big brother attitude we must all endure now, (by the way, what color are we at now?)

can see now why 'the hand that feeds', (the single from the cd), was not allowed on the 'empty-v' awards. even without the banner of bush you know who this is for . . . and how fitting.

and they say there are no more protest songs!
this and 'american idiot' by green day and steve earle's 'the revolution starts . . now!' are some examples of how musicians are now speaking for those that can't . . . or won't.

the hand that feeds
you're keeping in step in the line
got your chin held high and you feel just fine
because you do what you're told
but inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold

just how deep do you believe?
will you bite the hand that feeds?
will you chew until it bleeds?
can you get up off your knees?
are you brave enough to see?
do you want to change it?

what if this whole crusade's a charade
and behind it all there's a price to be paid
for the blood on which we dine
justified in the name of the holy and the divine

so naïve to keep holding on to what I want to believe
i can see but i keep holding on and on and on and on

will you bite the hand that feeds you?
will you stay down on your knees?

some stuff to wake us up, 'coz this is the real 1984!: (via yousendit)
nin - the hand that feeds
nin - ever day is exactly the same
(buy nine inch nails)

and nin is on the road agin'
and sold out in england already

(hide this behind something they won't look behind)

hold that pose . . .

coming to an earhole near you

i stumbled upon steadman a while back looking for new stuff in the amazon reviews.
i liked it, bought it, played it for s.a. and it suddenly became one of our favorite kinda dance-around-the-house-while-we-work music.
sir paul said this was one of his fave bands a few yrs ago and they got rave reviews in britain, and of course, jack-squat in the states, (but being the anglophile i am i love almost anything that sounds like pop-rock from britain, so i love it).
they are very pop savvy songwriters, named after the singer and the second album 'revive' is near perfect rock confection.
so now we're waiting to see what they do next.
no word yet tho . . .

here is some steadman we listen to. . . to hold us over:
(mp3s via yousendit)
no big deal
revive
good to go
(buy steadman!)

oh yeah, i tagged a few blog buddies for 'top 5's', if ya wanna see who did what check on 'the open mind', 'waved rumor' and 'the rubberwall' . . . but 'laurie' opted out and i had a strange feeling a bout 'nostra' so i didn't go there, (i think he'd miss his bus thinkin' of stuff) . . .

woof woof

we're goin' to the dogs

i saw on the very cool reverand frost's site, spread the good word, a list and file from an old mix tape he made about jesus, (it's pretty funny . . . and yet, disturbing), and it got me to thinking . . . uh-oh.
i had this thing years ago about making mix tapes, ya know, themed thingys, like 90 min. tapes about cars or girl name songs or songs about drinking whilst boating and a few mixes of dog tunes. just so happens i made a run to sparks for much needed supplies and one of the dog mixes was in the truck
so, lacking for a post idea i'll steal his . . .

. . . here in all it's raw, dirty record analog taped glory is side one of dogs no. 1
(24 min mp3 @128 k via yousendit)

(this is the listing of the songs, too lazy to rip it up, sorry)
hey bulldog - beatles (this is sadie's fave beatle song, one of mine too)
buy 'yellow submarine'
shake dog shake - cure (this is from 'the top', one of the best cure lps, out of print in the u.s., figures)
buy the cure
walkin' the dog - stones (the boys doin what they did best, rippin' on rhythm and blues)
buy 'england's newest hit-makers!'
? - soul asylum (i forget what the title to this is. it is from a tape of all the early stuff i have. this is when soul asylum had some soul. if someone knows what this is lemme know. i can't be bothered to go digging in the archives for the tape cover) i can't find this anywhere for a link, must be a collectors item, nice!
diamond dogs - bowie (a very cool rock and roll song about, i dunno, diamond dogs or something, the lp is great and about 1984, i think, tho no mention of winston smith. still a very good brooding, dark, funky record)
buy 'diamond dogs deluxe'
sick as a dog - aerosmith (this is from the last great aerosmith lp, 'draw the line', (i hate most of the new 'smith stuff, tho it does have it's moments. i think i lived this song one month awhile back)
buy 'draw the line'

and something the reverand parr sent me . . . the internet kills!
and the faux bbc page
(this has to be the wierdest hoax in awhile)

so, until the next time . . . .

a list

yet another top 5 list

well, it seems my friend, the curmudengly crab, has tagged the wreckroom with a 'meme' . . . reminds me of the movie 'high fidelity', where john cusack's whole life revolves around top 5 lists and records. and that is so me.
so before i go tackle the yard on this beautiful saturday morning i'll drop my top 5s . . .

A. Top Five Lyrics that Move Your Heart:
god only knows - the beach boys (prolly the most beautiful song ever written)
guilty - randy newman (these words kinda hit too close to home for a lot of us)
surf's up - brian wilson ('columnated ruins domino!' . . . what a desperately hopeful song)
picture book - the kinks (i love hearing this on the hp commercials, turn it up and sing along!)
hellhound on my trail - robert johnson ( '. . . blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail', that plaintive howl of a man running from his demons is just so haunting)

B. Top 5 Instrumentals:
third stone from the sun - jimi hendrix (dunno if this counts because of the line 'you'll never hear surf music again', but it works for me so . . .)
flying - the beatles (what a wonderful dreamy piece of music)
underture/sparks - the who (cinematic popera by working class brits, a thing of beauty)
miserlou - dick dale (the best surf song, done)
spanish key - miles davis (a great driving song from a great driving album)

C. Top 5 Live Musical Experiences:
the sex pistols '78 at the kingfish in baton rouge (the greatest rock and roll show i ever attended!)
the stones in '78 in the superdome (seen them alot over the years but this was the best)
bob marley and the wailers '79 at a warehouse (this would count more as a spiritual experience than a concert)
paul mccartney '03 in the new orleans arena (a much better show than i ever expected, we had a lot of fun that show)
cream farewell tour '69 at the las vegas con center (all of 13 and my first real rock concert, with the grassroots and the animals opening. jeesh, what was unleashed that night)

D. Top Five Artists You Think More People Should Listen To:
elliott smith (dead tortured artist, but god he was so good)
north mississippi allstars (best blues band in the land!)
xtc (too many years of being ignored by the world)
billy harvey (mark his words, this kid from austin is gonna be famous one day)
gomez (those wacky liverpudlians sounding like americana)

E. Top Five Albums You Must Hear From Start to Finish:
brian wilson presents 'smile' (after all these years, it works on so many levels that it deserves to be played over and over)
the kinks are the village green preservation society (ray davies' shining moment, it works like magic)
revolver - the beatles (mmmm, yeah)
a wizard, a true star - todd rundgren (an aural assault on the senses, from philly soul to dogfight giggles)
dark side of the moon - pink floyd (this is so much better on cd 'cos you don't have to break the flow by flippin' the record)

F. Top Five Musical s/Heroes:
john lennon
bob marley
elvis costello
andy partridge
brian wilson
(you should know who they are by now)

some tunes related:
side 4 of the vinyl 'smile' (instrumentals of 'heroes and villians', 'cabin essence', 'on a holiday' and 'wind chimes' - running time 13:38) (buy 'smile')

independence day - elliott smith (10-10-98 at the 400 bar in minneapolis)

song for wes long - andy partridge (demo)

(mp3s via yousendit)

now i need to tag someone else . . .hmmmm . . .