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Where you at, Rod Stewart?

November 18, 2009 /

Ronnie Wood, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones of the Faces plan on touring next year even if they can’t get Rod Stewart to commit.

The band, who played a Royal Albert Hall show in London last month, did so without their original singer Stewart, with a number of guests taking on vocal duties.

Keyboardist Ian McLagan has now said he will join the other surviving members – guitarist Ronnie Wood and drummer Kenney Jones – for a jaunt without Stewart.

“If we don’t do it very soon, one of us is gonna check out,” he said. “I’m 64, for Christ’s sake! We’ve been waiting and waiting for Rod to say yes; now he’s finally said no. He’s busy doing other shit. So we’re going to do it.”

He said Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall is likely to fill in on vocals again and he would like to recruit Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock on bass.

I recently saw Rod Stewart on “Kimmel” and he expressed interest in making a new Faces album. For some reason, now he doesn’t want to tour with his former band — a band that actually rocked. It doesn’t make sense.

I guess Stewart would rather make record forgettable albums such as Soulbook and appear on “Dancing with the Stars.” Come on, man.

News, Videos

Led Zeppelin: Good Times Bad Times; A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band

November 18, 2009 /

For fans of iconic rock band Led Zeppelin, there will forever be a hole in their collective heart stemming from the tragic death of drummer John Bonham in 1980. There have been several attempts at reunion performances, most recently in 2007 with Bonham’s son Jason pounding the skins for a tribute to Atlantic Records’ founder Ahmet Ertegun. But there has never been another tour, or any new music from the band, nor any real promise of such. And as difficult as that may be to swallow for a Led Zep fan, it may be best to remember these guys as they were – pioneers of hard rock, filling arenas with loud music and prompting young musicians everywhere to dream of becoming rock stars.

And it’s easier to remember the good times when you have books like “Led Zeppelin: Good Times Bad Times (A Visual Biography of the Ultimate Band)” by long-time Led Zep researchers Jerry Prochnicky and Ralph Hulett. This 200-plus page hardcover is filled with some incredible shots of the band from the early days when they were known as the New Yardbirds, all the way up to that 2007 performance that features a white-haired Jimmy Page on guitar. Throughout, there are live shots, shots of the band hanging out at home with their families, shots that might be considered ubiquitous and others that are quite obscure. Sometimes photos can tell a story better than words can, and in this case the authors have put together one of the finest retrospectives possible. The only thing missing is an accompanying music CD, but we suggest drawing from your own Zep collection, and crank it up really loud while you peruse. It’s the only way. (Abrams Books 2009)

Book reviews, Rock

Tom Waits B-sides collection gets expanded vinyl release

November 17, 2009 /

In 2006, Tom Waits released Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, a marvelous 56-song collection of B-sides Waits recorded over his expansive career. It’s nearly impossible to absorb over a few listens but trust me, there are some gems.

In bittersweet news, an expanded edition of Orphans is coming to vinyl. I say bittersweet because, come December 8, I will desperately want to buy this but won’t have the money to do so.

On December 8, Anti- will release Orphans as a limited vinyl set. You’ll get all of the tracks contained on the CDs, plus six bonus tracks. That’s 62 songs spread over seven LPs, all of which will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl. You’ll probably want to limber up and do some stretches before you even attempt to lift this thing.

The bonus tracks include covers of Fats Waller’s “Crazy ‘Bout My Baby” and the Brecht/Weill song “Canon Song”, as well as “Diamond in Your Mind”, a track written by Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan for Solomon Burke, and the originals “No One Can Forgive Me” and “Mathie Grove”.

I think I hate re-releases more than anything.

Artists, News, Videos

Robyn Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains In New York

November 17, 2009 /

4/5 Stars
RIYL: Syd Barrett, Bonzo Dog band, XTC

Always the eccentric, predictable only in his unpredictability, Robyn Hitchcock has never been an easy character to decipher, frequently defying easy accessibility and offering only rare opportunity to peer below his songs’ psychedelic sheen and to meditate on his melodies. Consequently, the concert film “I Often Dream of Trains In New York”, is a rare treasure in that it gives a more intimate view of the man and his muse via a thorough track-by-track replay of an early album many consider his signature achievement.

Hitchcock’s no stranger to cinema, of course. Last year’s documentary “Sex, Food, Death… and Insects” offered a surprisingly candid potrait of the artist in creative mode, a follow-up of sorts to the musical portrait captured in Jonathan Demme’s critically lauded “Storefront Hitchcock.” Hitchcock had a cinematic reunion with Demme more recently in fact, when he was given opportunity to perform a pair of songs in Demme’s current film, “Rachel Getting Married,” following up his acting debut as one of the protagonists in Demme’s remake of “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Regardless, it’s Hitchcock’s allure as an artist with a curious magnetism and slightly off-kilter wit and regimen that enthralls his followers, and if “I Often Dream of Trains in New York” seems to strip away that elusive veneer, it doesn’t detract from his charm or appeal. Performing in a stripped-down acoustic setting and backed by multi-instrumentalist Terry Edwards and guitarist Tim Keegan, he revels in the sentiment, sarcasm and wry irony parlayed by such numbers as “Up to Our Nex,” “I Often Dream of Trains,” “America” and “I Used to Say I Love You,” songs that take on an idyllic, folk-like serenity in this live setting. Even so, the a cappella “Uncorrected Personality Traits” brings to mind the bizarre, unabashed silliness of the Bonzo Dog Band, while a cassette recording of “Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl” serves as ample reminder of Hitchcock’s penchant for bizarre lyrical twists. It’s fitting then that the tracks are interspersed with Hitchcock’s own commentary on the origins of these songs, relayed, appropriately, from a seat on a train. Likewise, a bonus feature, “Beyond Basingstoke” offers further illumination and enlightenment.

A must-see for all Hitchcock aficionados, “I Often Dream of Trains in New York” is also an ideal passage for the uninitiated. (Yep Roc 2009)

Robyn Hitchcock website

Alternative, Concert DVDs, Progressive, Psychedelic, Rock

Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures

November 17, 2009 /


RIYL: Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana

Ever since Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri parted ways, Queens of the Stone Age have been missing a certain “oomph.” It hardly seemed right to continue with the name anyway, since the dynamic between Josh and Nick was a big part of what made that band so great in the first place.

For now, anyway, Josh is putting the Queens name aside, even though Them Crooked Vultures could have easily been called a Queens record simply by virtue of the fact that Songs for the Deaf drummer Dave Grohl is providing TCV’s undulating rhythms. And although Josh is the dominant voice and guitarist of Them Crooked Vultures, to say that he is outweighed by the mere presence of his bandmates – bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Dave Grohl – is an understatement. But make no mistake, Them Crooked Vultures is very much a Josh Homme record. All the raunch and sleaze he brings to Queens of the Stone Age is here (sample double entendre: “Don’t hold it against me, unless it gets hard,” from “No One Loves Me and Neither Do I”), as is that magical de-wussified angst he does so well (see “Bandoliers,” an awesomely rockin’ breakup song if there ever was one).

But what distinguishes TCV from Queens is ultimately that rock-solid, locked-in rhythm section created by Jones and Grohl. Yes, at times it does kind of recall the groove of the groovingest Led Zeppelin, and Josh will occasionally match that with some Zep-like riffage. And though most of the songs are worthy of the musicians playing them, the record starts to drag towards the end… just like the last two Queens records. But this is a small complaint in light of the fact that John Paul Jones is playing in a kick-ass rock band once again, Dave Grohl is back behind the drum kit where he belongs, and Josh Homme is showing no signs of slowing down. Rarely does a “supergroup” get much better than this. (Interscope 2009)

Them Crooked Vultures MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Rock

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