Ian Curtis from Joy Division Died 30 years ago today

Just, yesterday I was walking down 10th Ave and I saw this chick wearing an old unknown pleasures T-shirt and I thought to myself. Nobody wears or makes cool band art anymore. This design is a simple classic illustration that you can almost hear. Created by the band that originally came in a textured sleeve with no track listing on the back cover to speak of. Just black and mysterious. Such an awesome place in time when you discover this record helps you creep inside into the impossible. Then you realize there is this guy Peter Hook who plays the bass as the lead instrument and your musical world explodes.


Side one "Outside"Disorder Side two "Inside" Shadowplay
from Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division

WFMU's record library is a gold mine

I love vinyl records. In my basement that I just finished I made sure there was built in shelving to house my minuscule record collection which pales in comparison to the WFMU record library featured here in a video series by Michael Cumella for www.goldminemag.com.

Following The River lost track from Exile on Main St

The new video for Following the River was not on Taxile on Main Street bootleg listing but who knows this could have been recorded back then. Sure sounds nice and not the edgy bluesy stones present on Exile. The Stones typically recorded twice as many songs as they needed and then culled from there; over-dubbed and put an album together. For some Exile on Main Street is the best album The Rolling Stones ever released. I'm partial to Let It Bleed and my good friend Steve remembers buying this on 8track when he was 12. I can't wait to hear the whole thing mastered end-to end which would make this not a double album but a double-double? Regardless looking forward to this release a lot.

Hey it's 2010 and the Oldsters are kicking Brooklyn ass (Mostly)

Hey ironic mustaches! Can you focus on the music and less on your retro brown pants? I dig the tats but those will get saggy in due time. I dig openness but most of you will get conservative soon too but what will last is your attention to music and your legacy. Not going to directly slag your scene but this year yet again The Oldsters are kicking music's punkless-asses all over Fulton Street like a sober pathetic drunk. It should be an all out knife fight with the jukebook but it mostly sounds like a tuneless teen idle worship. I'm begging for somebody to point me to some new dish. Seriously this is your last chance.

Here's 7 of my Top 10 Music List of 2010 (so far):
Teenage Fanclub - Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty Seconds: A Short Cut T Damn talk about a pop-tart vocal triumph. Try this T on for size "Ain't That Enough" mp3
The Fall - The Future of Clutter Wow on first listen its like peeling the wax out of my ears with pretty distorted things like solvent is to glue is to the desperate need of fresh air in this lame new music landscape. Taste this download "Hot Cake" - mp3
The New Pornographers - Together Has already made billboard waves. It's going to be huge this year no denying the songster genius. Kick down the clutch and download "If You Can’t See My Mirrors" - mp3
The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever Ironically mustacheless with one man down there is no stopping Craig Finn and this band. Toping their last release it gives a big fat lip to Aerosmith greatest hits like it was nothing. Have a drink my fellows and sample "The Weekenders" mp3
Sweetapple - Love & Desperation Dude you like kiss and big monster drug rock guitars with solos? If Witch, Cobra Verde and J Mascis started a band they would sound like this... oh wait. You can't be metaphor to yourself or can you? Chomp on this one geeks (Hint: sounds nothin' like Country Life but the cover sure is nice)"Flying Up A Mountain" m4a
Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts You know your local record store dorks have made this record just for you when think it just flows naturally after listening to all the bands listed above no matter the track. They cut out the schwagg and just give you the raw parts. Sort of like Obits meets Crystal Stilts. It's raw like the smell of a hot plastic cassette mix in the summer which you bank on upping you chances of getting some(From London so Brooklyn you just had your teeth given to you neatly wrapped in under 29 minutes and 34 seconds. Try "Year's Not Long" mp3
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks Jersey always performs well with Bloomfield local with this one being Ted's 9th release. This batch of songs is up there with The Tyranny of Distance in my humble opinion. It's raw in all the right places and never trying to be something he's not so super huge amount of respect to this brand of punkrock. Dig "Gimme The Wire" mp3

Ex Models live at the Court Tavern

I was digging in the archives a few months ago looking up video footage to lend to the Cruel but Fair movie [CBF on Facebook] and i cam across half a set by Ex Models from a Aviso'Hara Record release show for Made From Scratch. Anyway. The banter is funny and if you dig these guys you should enjoy these live nuggets which are not available anywhere else.

Ex-Models live @ The Court Tavern 2000 mp3s
Girlfriend is worse
the fun system
The Mechanic

The pic is from a earlier EM show in 1999 way before they broke...note the plug spark sanjay t-shirt.

Time to Pledge to WFMU.ORG 2010 Marathon

It's that time of year right before you pay the tax man where WFMU needs your dough so they can entertain you for another 50 weeks of year. Qaulity free form radio entertainment. For her and his pleasure.

Get some free nuggets:
mp3 19th Nervous Breakdown by Shockabilly from Cherry Blossom Clinque premium cd from the 2009 Marathon.
Bounce by Bo Diddly from a J.R. Williams comp get the whole shaker set on the site.

Keep it funky and groovy by Lefties Soul Connection

I was in the mood for some funky sheet and it all found me today so sharing it with you. Lefties Soul Connection's record Skim skimming The Skum is the real deal. Meters dig it and so should you. Recorded live to 8 track. Plus some other nuggets.

Paul Newman [Mp3] by Lefties Soul Connection
Hey Ya(cover) [Mp3] by Booker T from the new album Potato Hole. Featuring Neil Young and Drive By Truckers
I Thank you [Mp3] by Sam & Dave

Radio Free Song club like a fireside chat

Found a interesting song writers podcast through my facebook aquintances called Radio Free Song Club and the only one I've ever heard of is Freedy Johnston and Laura Cantrell and Dave Schramm to name a few. Alright lots of song writers in the immediate NY/NJ area with a outlet to share their newest and coolest demos. The number one issue as they are calling it (need to work on your podcast vernacular guys) has a some live music and narrator reads out writers notes and stuff. Really under the hood kind of stuff. If you are passionate about the art of song writing you might really enjoy this fireside chat style podcast. I did. subscribe. Hosted by Nicholas Hill.

Best Mashups by FanFarOff and others thanks to the Amen Break

You gotta dig the effort in put into mash-up by individuals like FanFarOff who figure out how to featuring the Beatles, LCD Sound System and the kinks all in one tasty aural music pizza!
There are a couple other dancy ones with Nirvana and Dead or Alive that are cool but damn does Dave Grohl put down a mean dance beat not unlike the super famous "Amen Break". Yes, indeed the documentary monotone piece below by Mobius32 is like listening to paint dry but even the little bit of discography history in it is dang cool. Who knew that 6 seconds of a performance could lead to the concept of mash-ups? Where these rebels post stuff for free on the internet. Must drive the execs nuts. If you are wondering if anybody is making money on video mash-ups? Well duh g**gle figured it as reported by Business week out as long the labels don't shut it down. The 80's were cool when the new sampling art form was started. Gave rise to all sorts of creative from De la Sol to NWA. Then quickly dismantled by the record industry itself because of their shitty artist royalty trickle down economy that only works if they have a stake in it. My 10,000 foot pov here but whatever. Enjoy it while it lasts.


In particular i love this mash-up by FanFarOff with James Brown. Such a great use of melody and beats that creates this feet shuffling audioscape. Crazy.

here are some mash-up downloads with the band Muse or Prince vs Steve Nicks. Also for the lazy DJ like me there are some good mash-up on Culture Bully's best of 2008. As usual enjoy.

The Feelies the Good Earth release

Album Relistening Review: the Good Earth by Feelies is like returning to memories of your first love. Thanks to Bar/none for this on cd! Featured on vinyl all the time on my podcast it's nice to have a shiny version. Thanks to Amoeba in Berkeley for having a copy for me this xmas. This record was originally out on cayote records in 1986 and remember picking this lp up because Peter Buck(REM) was involved somehow with this jersey based band. Years later I had the pleasure of catching them live at a super club in Princeton in the early 90's before disbanding and now apparently reuniting for awhile. All you wanna be folk crooners should aspire to this level of melody with out too much emphasis on the poetics. Their debut in Crazy Rhythms is great too don't get me wrong but this softmore release was a lot smoother production wise for me and not as derivative to their obvious influences. What makes it really grea still to this day is that the vocals don't over ride the simple and fast open riffs like bad pop music does. The guitars remind me of jersey fields somehow (maybe it's the artwork). When the jams kick in it's at the sonic level of the velvet underground for sure without being too noisy and just using mostly clean and well toned guitar melodies. ahh bliss.

If you this you might dig new bands like:
Point Juncture, WA (folky and handmade sounding one of the singers Amanda has killer sense of melody | choice mp3 link coming | last.fm
The Librarians (more smiths sounding in a coctue twins kind of way) | mp3 link coming
BUY SOME FEELIES

DID YOU FRIEND ME(daviso) ON LAST.FM YET?

Great unheard Christmas songs

So i got lazy this year and plain old overworking. However you want to look at it but my friend Matt put his Christmas Playlist together. Actually he has been working on The Great Unheard covers project for many years. Check out the awesome covers by all the sorts of folks for music lovers. He sure did save me a lot of work so welcome him on the launching of his new mp3 site. glad I can check make killer Xmas playlist cd off my list. Good job Matt!

I can't believe another year's gone o'well...

Save the Court Tavern from their ungodly taxes

Open letter from Eileen Albert

Family,
Once again I am in the position of writing an extremely difficult letter. We have 24 hours to raise $20,000 or we may be forced to close. I know that times are tough and it is the holiday season but it's not impossible, 4 people to lend us $5,000 ea. - 10 people/$2000 ea. - 20 people/$1,000ea - 40 people/$500 ... See Moreea. and so forth. Here's why: We owe @ $26,000 in back property tax and water and sewer to the city of New Brunswick. A friend of ours knew we needed help and offered it based on the fact that he was selling his house and asked how much we needed. Bobby told him $20,000 or so. He said he could help us out provided his closing went through on Friday, which it did. Today he came in with $5,000, apparently all he could do. Bobby was under the impression that he could lend us the bulk of it. Now we are really screwed. We must pay the entire amount by 4:00 tomorrow ( Tues. 12/15 ) or it will go to tax sale. If it goes to tax sale the mortgage company will start foreclosure proceedings. Commercial mortgages are different that residential and the only way to stop it would be to file bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court will take over the business and liquidate it. The end of the Court Tavern. Bobby and I and Cassius have sacrificed so much of our family time and money over the years just trying to stay afloat. Everytime we are ready to throw in the towel , someone will come along and tell them how much the Court means to them so we keep on going. Tony Shanahan is in the process of organizing a benefit concert for us at the state theater in March. We thought we had it covered, borrow the money from our friend, pay the taxes, in March pay him back and have some extra cash to get caught up on some other stuff. Not going to happen. If you can help at all please call my cell phone at 732-887-1612 ASAP. All loans will be repaid in March with interest. We only have 24 hours. You can also text me if it's late tonight although I don't know how I'll sleep.
Sincerely,...
Eileen Albert"

IF 200 people give $100 dollars this should do it. Come on WFMU people.

If you know anyone in a financial position to help save the Court, PLEASE pass this along to them! The Court could go under....TODAY!

Visit the Court's FB page to find out more: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Brunswick-NJ/The-Court-Tavern/95906964037
Or call or text Eileen directly: 732-887-1612
Or call The Court: 732-545-7265

UPDATE: 12.15.09pm
SO the Benefit is on for March. Looks like somebody walked into the bar and gave them 20k. Good to have friends, family and fans -- oh and money. The Court Tavern is safe for now.

PAYPAL INFO TO COME!!!
The saga will continue.

Hub City Cruel But Fair the show

Well the first show in support of Stuart Wexler's ambitious documentary on the 90's New Brunswick Music scene was a huge success. I never saw so many gadgets and die-hard fans all in once place. The "Scene within the scene" to quote Bryan Bruden the old Mad Daddy's manager. Was really awesome to see so many oldish faces in one place and sad that I could not talk to everybody. Hadn't seen some of these characters in 5-8 years or so and glad to most are still alive.

So what does this all mean? Who cares right? it was so 90's ago? Well first off the music was vibrant like the first time you self discovered. All the colors were represented and none sounded like the other. For quick view go ahead and download or listen to DJSPORK SHOW #29 No Frills Rock podcast. I play a few select tracks mixed in with current talent out there. it's all about the rock.
Cruel But Fair movie page on Facebook or on YouTube.
NEXT SHOW: Sat 12.126.09 Court Tavern w/ Horsey, 3 to 6 inches, Prosolar Mechanics, Buzzkill and The Stuntcocks.