Sunday, September 14, 2008

JETS vs. PATS PREVIEW


Brett Favre Career:
Starts: 254
Passing Yards: 61,849
Touchdowns: 444
Interceptions: 288



Matt Cassel Career
Starts: 0
Passing Yards: 405
Touchdowns: 3
Interceptions: 2


Prediction: Cassel led Pats will send Favre back into retirement

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Experience Boylston

Some guy from Boylston bought a guitar that Jimi Hendrix set on fire for half a million bucks. Not the Hendrix /Zappa Strat from Monterey but the first one he lit up at London's Astoria. The other one is expected to fetch Dweezil a cool million. If you don't have that kind of money to burn you can have always one custom built.

more from The Sun

Sunday, August 24, 2008

OPEN UP AND READ


With the lingering disappointment of The Weirdness and the endless sea of Iggy DVD I didn't need more Iggy Pop, but while browsing for a summer vacation book I could find nothing else. Well that's just fine because Open Up And Bleed could not be better. Not the authorized biography, but written with Iggy's blessing, Paul Trynka perfectly captures the tale of Jim Osterberg and his alter ego Iggy Pop from pre-Stooge to present with all the gory details intact. Essential.

buy it now

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Your Sounds

filmed on flip by philco brothers
This time I got to see them.
Here's the Incredible Casuals playing Your Sounds Yourself at The Beachcomber in Wellfleet

"The Casuals make a raucous, guitar-driven sound not unlike NRBQ but with a hint of Replacements-style corrosion." - David Fricke, Rolling Stone


band website

Monday, July 28, 2008

Quote Of The Week


I’ll take a guy hitting .500 that’s miserable as opposed to a guy handing out bouquets of roses to his teammates and he’s hitting .145
-Red Sox manager Terry Francona

Monday, July 21, 2008

49 minutes


New Paul Westerberg release!
It seems to be only 43 minutes and 55 seconds but at 49 cents who's complaining.
Buy It

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Psycho Circus


I don't know what I like best about this dvd, the dressed to laugh Kiss family, the battle of the tribute bands, the real band's convention intervention, Handsome Dick Manitoba's imitations of both Paul and Gene, or the ace Frehley impersonator who turns to Elvis when the real Ace lets him down. This rockumentary basically follows the put on the make up movement and concludes with the ridiculous press conference at which the original Kiss reformed. You wanted the best, you got it. Now watch it.

buy it now

Sunday, June 22, 2008

play ball

photo by Vivian Johnson
Steve Wynn, Linda Pitmon, Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck formed this dream team of alt-rockers to sing about baseball.
Have a listen.
The Baseball Project


yep roc page

Friday, June 06, 2008

10 MPG


MPG is almost out of gas so they will be having a 10-year retrospective opening tonight.
Included in the exhibition are works by the Philco Brothers' own Don Hartmann.

450 Harrison Avenue
Boston MA

June 6 to
July 12, 2008
reception:
Friday, June 6, 5:30 to 8:00 pm

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Read The Book, See The Movie, Buy The CD

Just finished reading this tremendous book about Roky Erickson and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. It's quite detailed and will probably stand as the definitive book on the subject although it would be nice to hear Roky tell his own story. The book made me revisit the documentary You're Gonna Miss Me which I enjoyed much more knowing the details provided in the book (the author appears in a short segment in which Roky ,while polite, shows no interest in helping with the book). This in turn made me find my old CD Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye (still in print?) the 1990 tribute CD which made me realize what a great songwriter Erickson is in the first place.

book
dvd
cd

Friday, May 16, 2008

Country Cookin' with Doug Sahm


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id="xspf_player" align="middle" height="170" width="400">






1976 US Army Radio Program featuring Doug Sahm

Friday, May 02, 2008

Pleased To Meet... Glen Campbell


Glen Campbell talks about his new album Meet Glen Campbell on which he covers:
"Jesus," Velvet Underground
"All I Want Is You," U2
"Times Like These," Foo Fighters
"Grow Old With Me," John Lennon
"Angel Dream," Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
"Sadly Beautiful," the Replacements
"Sing," Travis
"These Days," Jackson Browne
"Walls (Circus)," Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
"Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)," Green Day

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Shine A Light


Keef gives the traditional thumbs up at the New York premiere of the new Stones flick Shine A Light.

more photos

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

The End Of An Era


If you grew up in Massachusetts watching the Bird-era Celtics then you probably got your sports news fron Bob Lobel. Make no mistake this guy was one of the greats.
He was smart and funny before ESPN sportscasters were smarter and funnier than you.
We celebrated with him as the Celtics raised banners and we turned to him when the ball rolled the other way, as in through Buckner's legs. Big layoffs at CBS are sending him packing and maybe it is time. Even the great Johnny Carson lost a step in his last few seasons. There won't be another Lobel as we turn to the internet for instant scores and highlights. But when we see another young sports star shine somewhere else and ask "Why Can't We Get Players Like That?", we know there's one who didn't get away. Here's to you Bob Lobel, The Jock, we wouldn't have made it through the 80's without ya.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Harp Blues


The quite excellent Harp music magazine has printed its last issue.
I once e-mailed them about a Pere Ubu review and I got a response in less than 30 minutes.
Little did I know they were gonna print it.
Thanks Harp
We'll miss ya.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Pop Hall Of Fame

Yes it's true, Iggy and the Stooges finally made the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. Not for their three trailblazing pre-punk classics however.
They were there to sing for Madonna, the Queen Of Rock and...um...well she played CBGB's once or something. Oh yeah and she sold a lot of records too. Maybe this was the MTV awards cause I saw John Cougar there too.

Monday, March 10, 2008

BURNING UP

I think I just saw the Stooges play Burning Up and Ray Of Light for Madonna at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.
Could this be possible?

Sunday, March 09, 2008

pale blue eyes by R.E.M.

Jagger-meister


Shattered and Little Big Wheel at The Lucky Dog
The last time I saw Little Big Wheel they opened for an amazing Frank Black at this same venue eight years ago. Since then the band has released the excellent Redwood CD, making it two of the best locally released albums to ever come out of the Worcester music scene.
When LBW hit the stage the first thing I noticed was only half the original members are still in the band. That only makes 'em a little Little Big Wheel doesn't it? What matters is singer-songwriter Jim Weeks is center stage. The band sounds fine, but I miss original guitarists Wes Burton's playing a bit. He was the Dan Murphy to Week's Pirner (a veiled Jagger -Richards reference). No offence to the other musicians, but maybe it's time to drop the Little Big Wheel moniker. We know who Weeks is by now and it's his songs we come to hear.

On with the show,
To celebrate the anniversary of the legendary Rolling Stones appearance at Sir Morgan's Cove (now Lucky Dog) tonight's main act is Shattered. The club originally booked legendary Rolling Stones clones The Blushing Brides but they had to cancel.
As the band took the stage I was trying to figure out who played who with no luck.
Then I saw the Jagger guy. Yes, he was definitely Jagger. Directly to his his left was a female singer (which Stone was she?).I figure her job is to make you not notice that the other guys don't look like Stones at all.

How you doing Wooster?

This guy had the accent and rooster dance down pretty well as they ripped into Monkey Man. The Keith guy had the right guitars and tunings all the way down, but he hardly looked the part with his leopard print shirt and his K-mart chain. That's okay cause the Jagger-esque voice and moves got all your attention. The between song patter made me wonder if he acted like this all the time. He'd be great at parties, for a while. They ran through all the hits (with a couple of surprises, like No Expectations) and the more you drank the more you thought they were the the real deal. Jagger-boy left the stage for a breather and the female singer took over for a capable version of Beast Of Burden (remember the Bette Midler video?), which looked better than it sounded, prompting one rowdy fella to holler "let the bitch sing!" upon the Mick's return. Encore time and Mick and K-mart Keith are playing the crowd with us regular folk and it's 1981 all over again, almost. Wonder what is was like to really be there.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Lights Out


Hear Rock City, one of the finest music blogs on the web, is going out of business.
Go check it out before it's gone.
HEAR ROCK CITY

Sunday, March 02, 2008

James Gang In Concert


I never gave much thought to the James Gang because they pretty much happened before my time. My first band played the hits, Funk #49 and Walk Away, but I'd never even seen their their LP's. Then one day, twenty years on, I saw a clip of Walk Away on VH-1 Classic that blew me away. I was also surprised when I heard that they were doing a reunion tour. Why would Joe Walsh need to do this when he's in the fucking Eagles and can charge 300 dollars a seat? After listening to a bootleg copy of one of the 2002 shows I realized this band had a few more good songs and they could still cut it live(with a little keyboard help). Next day while browsing CD racks I couldn't find anything new so I headed for the James Gang bin. I should have bought the studio James Gang Rides Again but the $6 dollar price tag for Live In Concert suckered me in. Well it rocks, with sloppy sound and total stereo separation of the bass and guitar. It starts off with a few heavy bloozy rockers then Walsh switches from guitar to keyboard for Tend My Garden, the song on whihch Tom Scholz supposedly based his "Boston Sound" on. A quick acoustic track follows and then back with a blistering version of Walk Away. The album ends on a long note with a 17 minute jam complete with bass and drum solos which I could probably do without. A 7 minute Funk # 49 might have been better. But hey, 20 minutes of good music for 6 bucks, who could walk away from that.

buy it now

walk away (2002 version)

Friday, February 08, 2008

More Patriots Video Found

This time it's from 1986


The Patriots answer to the Superbowl Shuffle


and it's Metal companion


Please Roger Goodell destroy these tapes immediately

Monday, February 04, 2008

Superbowl XLII Recap

Tom Petty had a better night than Tom Brady as the Patriots fell to a Manning brother for the second year in a row. Sure there was Moss in the end zone but it was too little too soon. You would think they would learn from their own success. Well nobody's perfect...except the 1972 Dolphins. Forget Spygate, there's only one question for Bill Belichick now: Do you think you were out-coached?

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Tom Petty Halftime Show

Looking forward to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers halftime show.
He'll probably break out all the lame hits (Freefallin, I Won't Back Down) but the Heartbreakers are still a great band, especially guitarist Mike Campbell and former Stooge Scott Thurston. If you don't have their 1999 album Echo go buy it now


post Superbowl update:
Tom Brady didn't play as well as Tom Petty
but he went down Swingin' (1999)


Tom "playing bass" with Dwight Twilley (1977)

Friday, February 01, 2008

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

shrunken memory



There were two more new albums I bought in 2007 I almost forgot. Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full which, while an improvement on the much overrated Chaos and Creation (what chaos?), didn't hold my attention for more than a couple listens. Also of note was Ian Hunter's Shrunken Heads which was good but not on a par with his previous album Rant. I may have to try this one again while I search for the out of print Artful Dodger.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Last Year's Model


Is it too late to nominate an album which came out last year, even though I bought it this year, for the best of 2007?
I'm talking about Ray Davies second solo LP Working Man's Cafe.
It's not due for a physical release in the US (New West Records) 'til Feb 19 but apparently has been available as a digital download for months. Who knew?

Amazon Download (only $8.99!)

Ray Davies MySpace

Monday, December 31, 2007

Top Whatever List of 07

Enough with the top ten lists already . I didn't even listen to 10 new albums this year.
I'm just gonna cap off the old year by listing the few things I did like.



Top LP
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
I think this is the only new CD I bought. I like it.



Top DVD
The Johnny Cash TV Show
I now like Country, Western and Creedence. Buy the two disc version.



Top Book
I liked Andy Summers' One Train Later but i didn't finish it. Buy All Over But The Shouting instead. It's about the Replacements and it's easier to read. The Warren Zevon book is fabulous too but you might not want to go there.



Other "top" things:
Elvis Costello live
Red Sox
Patriots
Celtics
Blog posts of out of print vinyl
Vicodin



Some "bottom" things:
Bob Dylan live
Bruins
Blog posts about important new bands
Vicodin

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Joe For Oil


Following sluggish sales of his recent solo album Joe Perry appears to have taken a job delivering oil. click for delivery

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Records Go Round


Picked up this fabulous peice of vinyl at Luke's Record Exchange in Pawtucket RI today. Being a big fan of the Q I wonder why I never bought this LP. It may be their finest (3/4) hour. Almost half the songs are on their best of collections and the other half could be. Vinyl is not my preferred method of listening these days but when I see a good store it's fun to check out all the abandoned wax and laugh at all the bad albums covers people parted ways with. I always try to buy something just to be polite. I usually just spin 'em once and then file 'em away but it's a nice warm break from this cold digital wonderland.
Luke's Ebay Store
buy At Yankee Stadium (cd)

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

No Stones

Seems I've been censored by Rolling Stone Rock& Roll Daily. In response to a post titled
Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. David Duchovny
I wrote these exact words:
Rolling Stones
Rolling Stone
Chili Willi and the Red Hot Peppers
The Abbey Road E.P
duh

pointing out the fact that their magazine lifted the name of a famous band just as the Showtime program lifted the name of a famous album.
My comment was there this morning and now it has mysteriously disappered.
Are they trying to hide something?
By the way, I'm changing the name of this blog to Blood Sugar Sex Magic
Do you think anyone will notice?

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Country Comfort


I bought this to see Creedence and Clapton but it's the country stars that keep me watching. Stand By Your Man doesn't mean a thing until you see the girl (woman) sing it. The real standout here though is the Man In Black who puts his heart and soul into everything he sings and is at ease with all the acts here. Maybe next we can get an entire DVD of Linda Ronstadt performances (with bonus rehearsal footage). That would be nice.

buy it now

Saturday, October 27, 2007

A Good Idea


I don't listen to Husker Du or Sugar much anymore but when I saw a positive
review of Bob Mould's new live DVD I was intrigued enough to buy it. The show looks and sounds great but the one thing watching this made me realize is how good his body of songs (cheap pun) is. I've seen the Huskers a few times but the Mould shows that stood out for me were:
A Sugar show which started out with Copper Blue and b-side material and then kicked into overdrive
with with a nearly possessed performance of the entire Beaster EP.
A solo acoustic performance after which Bob stuck around and talked soap box style for an hour then personally shook hands and thanked each person for coming.
Even if you weren't happy with his last few solo CD's buy this DVD to reminisce and realize this guy may still have a few good tunes up his sleeve. Stay in tune.

buy it now

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Don't Be A Dummy

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
head over to nrbq.com and download the live zip file. Then scroll down and buy Live At The Wax Museum.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Champagne Jam


It's time to celebrate.
Not because the Red Sox just swept the Angels
Because the ALCS is on FOX.
That means we can watch it in modern HD TV.
The NLCS is on TBS.
Good luck with that.

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Don't Think Twice



The truth of the matter is I was there to see Elvis. When Elvis Costello plays 10 minutes from your house it's time to get off the couch (or laptop) and go see a concert. The venue: DCU Center. Formerly the Worcester Centrum. As the Celtics were hanging banners and the rats were chewing up the parquet floor of the old Boston Garden, the Centrum was the hottest concert venue in New England. Now it houses minor league hockey and monster trucks and on occasion a halfway decent concert bill like Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello. No wristbands these days just a verification code and bingo your on the floor. First up Amos Lee. This guy's in fine voice and his band ain't bad either but after a few songs I realize this is the kind of music I hate. Sort of a poor man's Hootie and the Blowfish. Maybe he should open for Jack Johnson or Phish. That way I won't have to see him again. Seems like nice guy. Probably good at hackeysack. At this point the place is filling up. My guess is Elvis fans probably dig Dylan, but do Dylan fans dig Elvis? They do now. Costello was in fine voice. He opens with Red Shoes and he's already got the crowd.
The acoustic guitar suits him well and prevents him from playing those overextended leads he usually plays with The Attractions/Imposters. Some new songs, a little known gem, and some hits. By the way, I hate Veronica. Do you suppose I'm the only one? It seems like he plays it at every show. Anyway this is top shelf Costello worth the 70 dollar ticket price. A complete success. Between acts I hear people saying things like "I forgot how good his songs were". I didn't.

So what about Bob?

Well maybe I'm not qualified to review this portion of the show because I "left early". I don't want to say I walked out. It wasn't that bad? It was exciting to see the great songwriter as the lights went on. Nice hat. Appropriately, he started with Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat and except for the singing it wasn't that bad. Shortly after that was a reinterpretation of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (reinterpretation is bobspeak for "bad version"). For a moment I imagine it's all right. Then I think twice. Some new songs sound okay but it's kind of wearing on me. We decide to go look at the t-shirts or get some food. In other words we don't want to leave, it's just that Dylan starting to ruin the good vibes of the earlier EC performance. I've had enough. Hey, it's all right to "leave early" (I "left early" a during an Elvis show once-King Of America tour). Doesn't make me a bad person or him a bad artist. He's still Bob Dylan and he's still a living legend. He's just not a living live legend

Friday, October 05, 2007

The Definition Of Low


Here's a big F**K YOU to MLB, TBS, TNT, and Charter Cable.
I just watched the entire 162 game Red Sox regular season in High Definition on NESN. Now the playoffs are on TBS and TBS HD is not carried by my local cable provider. Even worse the beginning of tonight's Sox game began on TNT HD then switched to non-HD TBS when the Indians - Yankees game ended. It's obvious that TNT could carry the game but they want to force Charter to carry TBS HD at their price. And why is Charter always last major cable company to carry the new stations? As they fight over price the viewers get screwed. Some of the blame must also go to Major League Baseball for giving the contract to a non HD ready network. Watching the game in standard definition on an HD TV is like going back to UHF. The picture nearly as bad as Craig Sager's jacket.

update

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Radio Ga Ga

I'm really glad Radiohead is letting me set the price for the new album IN RAINBOWS (Oct 10) because I wouldn't give you two cents for their last couple albums. In fact I would like my money back.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Joy Division


A solid pitching performance by Daisuke Matsuzaka combined with an unbelievable come from behind win by the Orioles over the Yankees last night gave the Sox their first division title since 1995.
more photos

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Train Of Thought Rocks!


Although they're probably never coming back, the legendary Train Of Thought have a new MySpace Page. Go check 'em out.
Train Of Thought Myspace

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Who's Got The 2 1/2 ?


The Red Sox AL East division lead, which at one time was 14+ games. is now down to 2 1/2.

read more