31 Flavors... or, at least 10, anyway... (Volume 5)
Greetings. Some of you know me from playing music around the region over the years, others might know me from my time as a Programming Manager and an on-air personality for the radio station that formerly occupied the area in-between 94.8 and 95.0 on your FM dial. I was also fortunate enough host a Sunday evening show that was dedicated to local music and musicians and it was, frankly, my favorite part of the week. I got to have a lot of fun with old friends and make some new ones along the way, too. As an avid supporter of the internet, I was delighted to see a web site dedicated to the Portsmouth music scene pop up a few years ago (
http://stop.at/pms), and a companion internet newsgroup for people to post information about their band's performances, new releases, etc., and also to provide a place for people to come together in some fashion and talk about what's up (and down) with the area's music scene (those interested in participating in the discussions should go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portsmouthmusicscene - click on "Join This Group." Follow the simple directions and bang, you're in there). There were actually two different newsgroups at one point, but they were recently consolidated into one and has "started afresh." In an effort to add something different to the new group, a friend of mine proposed that I start doing a weekly-ish "column" for the newsgroup, essentially going through what was in my CD player in the past week. My first thought was, "Man, some of the people are gonna scratch their heads when they read it, because they've never heard of a lot of the stuff" (I sorta have a pretty far-reaching taste in music). When I realized that people not recognizing some portion of it was good, I knew I had to do it and have fun doing so. After all, enlightenment is nothing but a cool thing. After a few installments on the newsgroup, I was approached by the Porstmouth Free Press to do the same for it, and there was no way I could say no... SO, with that all being said, off we go into the wild frontier of what is my CD player:
NOTE: As I hope you will realize, this is NOT an attempt to be, in ANY way, shape or form, a "music critic" thing. That's not the point. I will be mainly attempting to just "put it out there" for you to contemplate, tell you maybe a little something behind the bands or how I cam about listening to them, and hopefully some of you will go to the places mentioned at the bottom and try to find some of the artists.
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Down - "Down II (A Bustle in Your Hedgerow)" (2002, Elektra)
One of the only true rock "supergroups," if you will, made up of members from Pantera (Phil Anselmo and newcomer Rex Brown, who is the only member not originally from New Orleans (he's a Texan... um, y'all)), Corrosion Of Conformity (Pepper Keenan), eyehategod (Jim Bower), and Crowbar (Kirk Windstein); it was seven years in between releases (1995, 2002), but they've honestly been two AMAZING albums... The intensity, the raw power (and I emphasize the word "raw")... incredible. If I were to try to describe the Down "sound," I dunno... it doesn't really sound like ANY of their respective bands, too much... Maybe "bayou stoner El Camino death rock," or somethin'... Recorded at 120 dB (you can tell) in a barn in the middle of a swamp and written and recorded in only twenty-eight days, "Down II" is a wild ride. I'll admit, sometimes, I think that Phil can get a little too into death and dying in his Down stuff (hmm) and overexposure tends to lead to me feeling a bit creeped-out for a little while, but maybe that's just what he's thinking about when he writes his stuff for them. I already can't wait for "Down III," I just hope I don't have to wait another seven years. PICK TRACKS: 1.)"Lysergik Funeral Procession," 4.)"Stained Glass Cross," 5.)"Ghosts Along the Mississippi," 7.)"Beautifully Depressed," 9.)"Doobinterlude" (written and performed entirely by drummer Jim Bower), 11.)"The Seed," and 14.)"Dog Tired."
See them on the web at
http://www.down-music.com
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Corrosion of Conformity - "Deliverance" (1994, Sony Music)
I would play something from these guys everyday on the radio, and about every other day, someone would call and ask, "Who was that band?" Well, whether you call 'em "Corrosion of Conformity" or just "C.O.C.," you can for SURE call 'em "killah..." ;) They've gone through a few lineup alterations from their debut as one of the first punk/metal fusion bands way back in 1983, but have remained pretty solid for the last four or five studio albums (drummer Reed Mullin basically broke himself in-two in a 4-wheeler accident almost two years ago and Jim Bower (eyehategod, Down) has been handling the duties in his absence). "Deliverance" was the fist C.O.C. album to feature guitarist Pepper Keenan as the lead singer (he has been a member since 1985). Sabbath meets gutbucket... PICK TRACKS: 1.)"Heaven's Not Overflowing," 2.)"Albatross," 3.)"Clean My Wounds," 11.)"Deliverance," and 14.)"Pearls Before Swine."
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The Pixies - "Surfer Rosa" (1988, Elektra)
Every now and then, I find the need to "deconstruct" a bit. Putting "Surfer Rosa" into the CD player offers me just the opportunity. Formed in Boston in the mid '80s by Charles Thompson (aka "Black Francis"), the Pixies, alongside Sonic Youth, were really the backbone of what would become the "skatenig" subculture of the late '80 and early '90s. Sadly, after only a few albums, internal frictions forced a split, and bassist Kim Deal would leave to re-form her old high school band, the Breeders, with Throwing Muses guitarist(/hottie) Tonya Donnally (who would later leave to form her own pretty-cool band, Belly). PICK TRACKS: 1.)"Bone Machine," 4.)"Broken Face," 5.)"Gigantic," and 9.)"Tony's Theme" (about "a super-hero named Tony" - need I say more?).
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David Bowie - "Heathen" (June 11, 2002)
It's kind of weird, when I go hunting around on the web, and I look for stuff about Bowie, generally all I find is stuff slagging him for one reason or another... yet he's apparently the richest entertainer in England's history (almost a billionaire)... but it's hard to find a good word written about him since 1983 (when he released "Let's Dance" with some unknown guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughn at the helm). I liked Tin Machine (Bowie's collaboration with guitarist Reeves Gabrels and brothers Hunt & Tony Sales (sons of comedian Soupy Sales), and I thought it was cool when he went out on a co-headlining tour with Nine Inch Nails in the mid '90s, but I guess no one else did... His most recent release, "Heathen," features songs written by Black Francis (the Pixies, see above), Neil Young (uhh... Neil Young), and "the Legendary Stardust Cowboy," besides Bowie, himself, and is probably one of the better Bowie releases in the last decade. PICK TRACKS: 1.)"Sunday," 3.)"Slip Away," 4.)"Slow Burn," 7.)"I Would be Your Slave," and 12.)"Heathen (the rays)."
http://www.davidbowie.com
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nonpoint - "Development" (June 25, 2002, MCA)
One day last year, I had come into work and there was a homemade CD on my desk in handwriting I didn't recognize. On the CD was a bunch of music from bands I either didn't recognize or had minimal exposure to... One of the songs was "Mind Trip" from a band called nonpoint (from their 2000 debut, "Statement"). Well, after I listened to it in my office, I walked in to the FM room and immediately played it over the air - to very positive response from the listening audience. So, all the sudden, these guys went from nobodies to rotation and heavily requested. Taking after other heavy-hitters such as deftones and Glassjaw, "Statement" featured some frenetic wails and heavy crunch. Their latest release is not what I would call a "departure," because there's still PLENTY of crunch, but it's definitely more melodic. The wailing is still there, but it has been widely replaced with more melody from singer Elias Soriano. They like to play in the area quite a bit, for some reason, so keep your eyes (and ears) peeled, and if you have a chance, go see 'em. PICK TRACKS: Well, that's a tough call. I am currently pretty smitten by the entire album. I'd have to say buy it (or borrow it, or what have you), put it on, and just let it go. A great album from beginning to end... nonpoint is one of THE bands to watch in 2002-03.
http://www.nonpoint.com
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Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Bloodsugarsexmagick" (1991, Warner Bros.)
Well, probably the last GOOD, REAL Red Hot Chili Peppers album (I mean, should they never quite "get it back"). Anthony only tries to sing on a couple songs on this album (which they turned into singles, thus starting this whole recent "thinks he can sing" mess). But this was where the Chili Peppers shoulda stayed... funky, filthy, and fresh (dare I say "dope," even)... PICK TRACKS: Well (again) there'a a lot of REALLY good tracks on here, so I figured it would be a LOT easier to put down the tracks I skip when I listen to it, such as 3.)"Breaking the Girl" (although it's actually the "alright one" of the garbage tracks), 9.)"Give it Away" (just heard it too many times), and 11.)"Under the Bridge" (bleccch). Everything else is awesome... quite near orgasmic, even.
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Clarke, DiMeola, Ponty - "The Rite of Strings" (1995, Gai Saber, I.R.S.)
Al DiMeola is one of those guitar players that you hear and immediately know it's him... well, if you know who he is to begin with... He has ventured several times into the electric domain, but to me, he has always seemed at home writing and arranging acoustic music - and the man sure does love to do the collaboration thing, putting out what seems like at least 3 or 4 different CDs a year with different folks. One of the best acoustic albums ever (to me), 1980's "Friday Night in San Francisco," features DiMeola alongside flamenco virtuoso Paco DeLucia and the equally incredible Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. "The Rite of Strings" throws him into the mix with a couple other virtuosi, bassist Stanley Clarke (Weather Report, among others) and violinist Jean-Luc Ponty (Frank Zappa, among others). PICK TRACKS: 1.)"Indigo," 3.)"John (Dedicated to John Coletrane)," 5.)"Topanga," and 8.)"La Cancion de Sofia."
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Iron Maiden - "Number of the Beast" (originally issued in 1982 by... Capitol, I believe) (remaster - 1998, Sanctuary)
The first album with legendary vocalist Bruce Dickenson (as well as the last album with drummer Clive Burr)... The year after it's release, I was a freshman in high school, and already quite good and "metalized." PHS was PHS, I guess - A LOT of kids when I was there, and a bunch of teachers that acted like they didn't care to be there anymore than you did. One of the highlights, though, was what was then the "Band of Tomorrow" marching band - at that point, one of the better marching bands in the entire country for many years (alongside Portsmouth East's uhh... "Band of Sciotoville?" - Tartan alumni, please don't crucify me, I just can't remember their nickname... the, uhh... "Marching Kilt-wearers?" umm... damn...). But that year, there was a secret society forming amongst them... the "Band of Maiden." By week 3 of my freshmen year football season, we had t-shirts and pins depicting Maiden zombified mascot "Eddie" in a PHS marching band uniform with the sleeves ripped off (and, of course, we were all immediately labeled "Devil-worshipers" in the process)... but the insurgence had begun... when the girls on the bus would try to play Bonnie Tyler and Rick Springfield and that crap, they were always likely to get blown out by the likes of Iron Maiden coming from someone's super-humungo, decibel-throbbing-jambox-device... while "British invaders" Def Leppard and Whitesnake were doing there kind of happy-go-lucky, sex-driven thing in the early '80s, a couple other British bands, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, were doing their thing, appropriately entitled "heavy metal." "Number of the Beast" might not have had quite the major impact that their later albums "Piece of Mind" and "Powerslave" had, but with it, the groundwork was laid for the stuff that would forever change rock music... and of course, someone has absconded with my two "Band of Maiden" pins in the past few years... thievin' bastards... PICK TRACKS: 2.)"Children of the Damned," 3.)"The Prisoner," 4.)"22 Acacia Avenue," 6.)"Run to the Hills," and 9.)"Hallowed be thy Name."
Note: The Iron Maiden remasters (the ones with the cardboard sleeves) contain videos from the respective albums on the CDs, as well. This one has videos for "Run to the Hills" and "Number of the Beast."
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Rush - "A Farewell to Kings" (1977, PolyGram Records)
From about 1980, in my friend Matt's basement, we would sit for countless hours on end after school and during the summers listening to our "33s" (or "LPs" for the rest of the non-hipsters, out there) - Sabbath, Priest, Van Halen, UFO, MSG, the Scorpions (yeah, I guess we were big Michael Schenker fans), Adam & the Ants, the Police, and of course, Rush... He and I each had "Moving Pictures" and "Exit Stage Left" (and by '82, "Signals"), but nothing earlier... One day, he snuck into his brother's room and came out with (lo and behold) "2112" and "A Farewell to Kings." Not really their best album, but probably in the top five of the Rush catalog, anyway. Their mastery of their instruments and songwriting technique was already well apparent and entrenched by then, though. Sitting and listening (and listening & listening) to that stuff back then... and hearing it again later in life reminds me... well, it reminds me that the world sure is a different place to be in, now... PICK TRACKS: 1.)"A Farewell to Kings," 2.)"Xanadu," and 6.)"Cygnus X-1."
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***LOCAL FLAVOR***
The Schaefers - "Lame as You" (2000, Readi Made Records)
If you can still get your mits on a copy of this EP, you should... ('cause I said so?) I did a "Live & Local" show with three of them on Easter Sunday, 2001 that nearly cost me my job in a hurry (because someone thought they were cute and powerful and that their money meant sh*t to me), but it was, until I do anything to top it in the future, the BEST time I had on the radio, ever... a group of very humorous, very friendly, and very intelligent individuals and it shows in their music, I think (such as one member's obvious admiration of the work of master thespian John Cusack)... If you are a fan of the punk/ska movement, The Schaefer's are a natural for you. I personally love the guitar work in it - a great sound and mighty tight... They've been around in some form or another for quite a while, and I can't figure out how they haven't been snatched up by someone, indie or major, and made into househould names, right up there with Britney Spears, Pat Sajak, and MC Hammer... PICK TRACKS: 1.)"If I was a Gangsta," and 5.)"Lame as You."
See
the Schaefers online
here.
Well, there you have it... The first of hopefully many more to come. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the newsgroup and web site owner/moderator Chuck Queen for coming up with the newsgroup in the first place; Jake and Desiree at the Portsmouth Free Press for the opportunity to present it to you; Mike and his Gateway; Melissa, Jason, Michelle, Stephanie, Beth, and John (and formerly Kristen, Andy and Jill) at Sam Goody Express, Pat at the Record Shop, and Scott & Mark at Allegro Music for always seeming to have something for me to listen to. See ya next time...
The author can be reached for comment at xtatic@iname.com
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All rights reserved 2002, Anthony Phillips/Xtatic Media. Reprinted with permission.
