Category Archives: Bands

Flashlite #768

Apple

Our new episode features new music from Mike Watt, Mike Baggetta and Stephen Hodges – MSSV, Leigh Gregory and Alicja-Pop. We also introduce a constellation of international artists: Decartes a Kant from Mexico, Hey Colossus from UK, Meat Shirt from France, Shiny Darkly from Denmark and New Vogue from Canada. Little Lighthouse shines all over this sad planet!

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Outtacontroller – Gotta Get Out
New Vogue – On Your Way Out
MSSV – Human Reaction
MSSV – Old Crow
The Church – These Coming Days
Shiny Darkly – Letter
Leigh Gregory – 99 to 111
DAIISTAR – Star Starter
Electric Six – Hot Numbers On The Telephone
Meat Shirt – Burning Bilderberg
Hey Colossus – I Could Almost Care
Osees – Die Laughing
Alicja-Pop – Yellow Moon
Alicja-Pop – Not Gonna Be Dumb
Descartes a Kant – Graceless
Body Maintenance – Ends

Flashlite #556

Emmanuelle Seigner

Today we start off with a pair of androgynous new rockers: Ezra Furman is known to us from before, there’s a new album out. Gyasi from Nashville TN is new. Italian glam rockers Faz Waltz are also walking the wild side. Kelley Stoltz over in San Francisco has a new record and so do the Ugly Beats from Austin. Over in Spain, we check out Capsula. Actress Emmanuelle Seigner has a band called L’épée with Lionel and Marie Liminana and Anton Newcombe. Hop Along come from Philadelphia, not a new album but it fell through the cracks and we catch it today. Missed are in our live in Cleveland segment.

The See No Evils – Close The Door;
Ezra Furman – What Can You Do But Rock ‘n’ Roll;
Gyasi – Little Tramp;
Mattiel – Til The Moment Of Death;
Capsula – Russian Roulette (Feat. Stuka);
Hop Along – Sister Cities;
Sofia Bolt – Seventeen;
Kyle Craft – O! Lucky Hand;
Kelley Stoltz – Perfect Stranger;
L’épée – Une Lune etrange;
Slapp Happy – The Secret;
Lesa and Ross – Final Apology;
The Ugly Beats – Janie;
Faz Waltz – Come On and Squeeze Me;
Mellow Drunk – Cut Me To Pieces;
The Laissez Fairs – Redundant Beach;
The Missed (Live in CLE);
Those Pretty Wrongs – You and Me.

Flashlite #555

Gorilla

Welcome to the new gloom and doom edition of The Little Lighthouse. We will go through several new hard rocking tunes and also revisit some old stuff too. Schizophonics’ new rocking single opens up the show and then we check in with the new tunes form Matthew Wascovich who again teamed up with a stellar line up of international collaborators. The Silence come from Tokyo and Elder from Berlin. Over in UK we have Gorilla and in LA, Here Lies Man. Towards the end of the show, we check out an excellent retro compilation Jobcentre Rejects. Headbangers of the world, unite.

Buffalo – Freedom;
The Schizophonics – Steely Eyed Lady;
Vicious Fence – Same Cell Different Paint;
Rosalie Cunningham – Ride On My Bike;
The Silence – Freedom;
Elder – Illusory Motion;
Gorilla – Treecreeper;
Here Lies Man – Long Legs (Look Away);
Baseline – Suspended Animation;
Predatür – Seen You Here;
Screaming Trees – Freedom.

Flashlite #230

Ceramic DogToday we begin with two obituaries. Arturo Vega, art director and logo designer of The Ramones passed away on June 8 this year. Alan Myers drummer of Devo passed away on June 24. After we pay respect to the two of them, we continue with some new music. King Louie’s Missing Monuments have a new single, Calexico covers Replacements on the new EP and Mama Rosin joins forces with Mick Collins and Matt Verta-Ray for a Marvelette’s tune Please Mr Postman. Mark Ribot’s Ceramic Dog has an exceptional new album and Lisa Mychols is back with the new album too. Finally, we have a reissue of the Shoes first LP One In Versailles which is finally widely available.

The Turtles – You Showed Me;
Ramones – Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment;
Devo – Uncontrollable Urge;
Paraf – Perspektiva;
King Louie’s Missing Monuments – Answer the Call;
Willie Nile – God Laughs;
Willie Nile – Trying To Find My Way (Live in CLE);
Richard And Linda Thompson – Jet Plane In A Rocking Chair
Shoes – Do I Get So Shy;
Calexico – Unsatisfied;
The Replacements – Unsatisfied;
Jimbo Mathus and The Tri-State Cualition – (I Wanna Be Your) Satellite;
T Bone Burnett – Tear That Building Down;
Ceramic Dog – Lies My Body Told Me;
Chris Cacavas – Strand By Strand;
The Marvelettes – Please Mr. Postman;
Mama Rosin (Featuring Mick Collins & Matt Verta-Ray) – Please Mister Postman;
Lisa Mychols – Better Than Nothing.

Flashlite #228

PondWe start off today with Pond – a band from Australia with ties to Tame Impala. We continue with another song from the Pop Depression compilation album Pesme ispod pokrivaca, this time it’s ŽeneKese from Belgrade with their version of the Hüsker Dü classic Flexible Flier. Then we check out the new albums for Willie Nile and Queens of The Stone Age. We also have Neko Case as a guest singer on the new musical written by Stephen King, T Bone Burnett And John Mellencamp. Finally, we introduce the new duet from Belgium Iris and the Deadly Flowers, which consists of a 16 year old girl and her father.

Dancing Hoods – Impossible Years;
Pond – Hey Joe;
Pond – Fantastic Explosion Of Time;
Tame Impala – Elephant;
Hüsker Dü – Flexible Flyer;
ZeneKese – Supersonicne sanke;
Willie Nile – Welcome to my Head;
Willie Nile – This Is Our Time;
Cobra Verde – Was It Good (Live in CLE);
Queens of The Stone Age – If I Had A Tail;
My Boddy Moose – Lack Of Imagination;
Neko Case – That’s Who I Am;
The Band of Blacky Ranchette – Getting It Made;
The Stan McMahon Band – Crystal;
Iris and the Deadly Flowers – Stop Me;
Turf War – 100 Years.

Flashlite #225

ZerkmanDisciplina Kičme boasted self-confidently as being the “greatest band in Yugoslavia” back in the late eighties. One thing is certain, they were the most original and it was exciting growing up and learning from their chants. Zerkman was their trumpet player and he passed away at the age of 50. Zerkman was the member of the band in their most glorious period from 1986 to 1991. Although legendary Koja was the undisputed boss in the band, Zerkman’s trumpet was a major contributor to the originality of Disciplina’s sound. The band originally featured only Koja on bass and a guy on a drum set. Then they added trumpets, an extra drum set and took the entire country by surprise. Going into the nineties, Koja and Zerkman from Belgrade, were joined by two Zagreb musicians Gulić and Novoselić and it looked like nothing can stop them. Nothing, but the war. Koja moved to London and when he returned, there was no room for trumpets in the new sound. Just two days before Zerkman suddenly passed away, Zerkman joined Disciplina once again on the stage, but that was also his last stand. Today we dedicate this show to him, and to the incredible sound of his trumpet that changed my life. I can only hope that the music you learned in your formative years was half as exciting as this one.

Disciplina Kičme – ZaÅ¡to;
Disciplina Kičme – Dečja pesma;
Disciplina Kičme – Iza 9 brda;
Disciplina Kičme – Da li ti znaÅ¡ za neki drugi ritam;
Funk-y-stretch – FLCZ II;
Zerkman’s Big Bang – Emrald;
Disciplina Kičme- Zemlja svetlosti;
Disciplina Kičme – Love Removal Machine;
Disciplina Kičme – Ne ne ne;
Disciplina Kičme – Manitua mi 2;
Disciplina Kičme – Prijatelj sa maÅ¡tom;
Zerkman’s Big Bang – Cermes;
Disciplina Kičme – Planeta dosade.

Flashlite #126 – Tribute To Robert Johnson

Robert JohnsonMay 8 marks hundred years of birth of the famous bluesman Robert Johnson. At least officially, as the exact date of his birth is unknown. But, the man’s influence on rock’n’roll and all other blues related music genres is impossible to measure. The majority of Johnson’s music was recorded between 1936 and 1937, long before rock’n’roll really had its name. But in 1961 his music was reissued on an LP and the young rockers embraced Johnson as a great precursor of their music. Black blues musicians of the 50s, like Howlin’ Wolf and Dinah Washington were a link, as they were playing Robert Johnson’s songs even before the 1961 LP. British rockers like Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones followed and brought Johnson’s music to the masses. Still, two of my favorite Johnson’s rock’n’roll covers belong to the 80s underground era: Rainer Ptacek’s version of If I Had Possession Over The Judgment Day and Gun Club’s Preachin’ The Blues. But indisputable strength of Johnson’s quality as a songwriter and guitar player is not the only link to the rock’n’roll. His entire short life is filled with mysticism, charisma and myth that also became an essential fabric for a decent rock’n’roll biography. Today, we pay a tribute to that.

Beck – Last Fair Deal Gone Down;
Robert Johnson – If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day;
Rainer and Das Combo – (If I Had) Possession Over Judgement Day;
Gun Club – Preaching The Blues;
Robert Johnson – Preachin’ The Blues;
Robert Johnson – Terraplane Blues;
Canned Heat – Terraplane Blues;
Some Girls – Malted Milk.ogg
Robert Johnson – Malted Milk;
Robert Johnson – Walking Blues;
Hindu Love Gods – Walkin’ Blues;
Cream – Crossroads;
Robert Johnson – Crossroads Blues;
Robert Johnson – Kindhearted Woman Blues;
Muddy Waters – Kind Hearted Woman;
Lucinda Williams – Ramblin’ On My Mind;
Robert Johnson – Ramblin’ On My Mind;
Robert Johnson – Love In Vain Blues;
The Rolling Stones – Love in Vain;
Robert Johnson – Last Fair Deal Gone Down.

Flashlite #45 Dedicated to Jackie DeShannon

Jackie DeShannonToday’s show is dedicated to one of the greatest songwriters ever – Jackie DeShannon. There is no particular reason for this celebration of her talent, I just felt like I needed some of her music. Back in the sixties it wasn’t so easy to be a female singer-songwriter. Somehow, musical industry at the time saw women either as performers or songwriters. So, women that wanted to do both at the same time had hard time breaking through these barriers. For example, Carole King had to wait for the entire decade to be over until she was given an opportunity to record her own songs properly. Jackie DeShannon was making albums and successful singles through the decade, but typically made hits with other people’s songs (Needles and Pins, What The World Needs Now). Her own songs she very often recorded just as simple acetate demos and passed over to other artists. These recordings are not easy to find these days, but some of these recordings surfaced. Today we have a concept where we play versions of Jackie’s demos and studio versions recorded by other artists that actually made charts. But most of all, it’s a chance to hear gorgeous Jackie’s tunes in her own inspired interpretation. Slight asperity of her voice is unmistakable and paired with her perfect songs, they stand as some of the most beautiful recordings laid on tape… umm acetate.

The Searchers – When You Walk In The Room;
Jackie DeShannon – When You Walk In The Room;
Cher – Come And Stay With Me;
Jackie DeShannon – Come And Stay With Me;
Diana Dawn – Back Street Girl;
Jackie DeShannon – Back Street Girl;
The Fashionettes – Daydreamin’ Of You;
Jackie DeShannon – Daydreamin’ Of You;
Dick Lory – There’s Gonna Be A Fight;
Jackie DeShannon – There’s Gonna Be A Fight;
Jackie DeShannon – Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe;
The Byrds – Don’t Doubt Yourself, Babe;
Jackie DeShannon And The Byrds – Splendor In The Grass;
The Boys – Splendor In The Grass;
Jackie DeShannon – Splendor In The Grass;
Wynona Carr – Carrying A Torch;
Jackie DeShannon – Carrying A Torch;
Dobie Gray – Blue Ribbons;
Jackie DeShannon – Blue Ribbons;
The Bandits – I Remember The Girl;
Jackie DeShannon – I Remember The Boy;
Jackie DeShannon – Bette Davis Eyes;
Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes.

Ray Mason Band

(Written long time ago for my old website) Ray Mason is from Haydenville, Massachusetts. This middle-aged gentleman has been around with his guitar for some twenty years now, and it looks like people in the local scene know him and respect him very much, as he was already an object of a tribute album. In his lengthy career, Mason left handful of cassette tapes in the eighties and five cd’s in last five years. He recently compiled his early cassette work on a cd called Square Crazy. That disc includes an interesting collection of great pop tunes with a twist, recalling NRBQ’s sense of humor. All those early tunes are recorded on a simple four track tape recorder, and the sound has a wonderful lo-fi charm. His two last regular issues came out in just a year span. One of them in early 2001 with a great rock’n’roll title When the Clown’s Work is Over. The other one came out in May 2002, Ten Dollar Man.

When the Clown’s Work is Over is full of nice guitar music and some of the songs are written in a righteous rock’n’roll style, and they’re worth of any Dylan’s, Young’s or Wynn’s tune. One can easily see how his style matured from his early tapes without dropping down in quality. My personal favorite is Up But So Loose which in just two minutes tell us a great rock story spiced up with a very creative riff. So you thought that the guitar rock is dead, huh?

Ten Dollar Man is the newest Ray Mason’s Work. He gathered his band again and recorded an album with just 10 songs, filling out just a small fraction of what can be fit on a cd, but all songs are really nice which makes up for the quantity. It’s a collection of tunes all enriched with a fine sense of humor. Similar usage of humor is also done by NRBQ. But what takes this issue a little bit farther is that there’s a special personal seal that all of the tunes carry. The album is very consistent in its quality through all 30 minutes of its lenght.

Mason also has a band Lonesome Brothers that he runs parallel to his solo career together with his friend Jim Armenti. Lonesome Brothers just came up with the new album called Swamptown Girl, which is a little more acoustic than Ray Masons’ solo work, but it’s still filled with cool songs. And what a suitable name for the band! Lonesome is probably the most frequently used name in country and brothers – well I guess Jim and Ray are some kind of creative brothers…

Website: www.raymason.com

Cheap Trick Live In New Orleans

(Written long time ago for the old site) Cheap Trick is one of the most entertaining bands on planet Earth. They started in 70’s but their roots go all the wat back in late 60’s when Rick Nielsen and Tom Peterson played together in a band called Fuse. They were one of those Americans who were heavily influenced by what was coming from England – Who, Kinks, Beatles, Small Faces. Their first album that came out in 1977 was some sort of an American belated and machoised version of British glam. With their contageous melodies, they soon became trend setters in beloved genre called power pop.

For the first few years of their existance they worked hard to gain some popularity and record sales in traditional markets such as USA and Europe, but the success was waiting for them in Japan. Japanese teenagers went crazy about the band and the end of the seventies there was marked as some sort of a Cheaptrickmania. The band went on a tour there and when they played at the packed Budokan theater
in Tokyo the tape was rolling too and soon they published their bestselling album Live at Budokan. Superior live version of I Want You To Want Me from that gig was also their biggest hit in the USA.

After this success the band attempted to add some keyboards and softer sounds on their albums keeping the sales up. The content of their eighties records is merely forgetable, but they remained a hot act live. At the end of the 80s they had a slight crisis, just to come back at the end of the 90s. Their second self titled album in 1997 was comeback to their original basic sound that proved its quality simply lasting this long.

On February 22 we were able to convince ourselves that Cheap Trick really are one of the most exciting live acts ever. The House of Blues was packed, they played about an hour of their greatest hits (excluding He’s A Whore on my sadeness). People were chanting along with the band especially during I Want You To Want Me and Surrender. It’s a Mardi Gras season, so few ladies in the audience decided to show their breasts, which in most cases disguisted the band, but they were still awarded thousands of pickups that Rick was generously throwing thruought the show. He is really the frontman of the band although Robin Zander is on vocals. Actually, that whole frontmanship in Cheap Trick is a really interesting topic. Two prettyones, Robin and Tom are on the covers always shown in their full rock’n’roll speed god-like fashion, whereas Rick and Boz with their goofy looks often take back sides of their record covers. The live shows are totally opposite, while Robin and Tom usually stay motionless, Rick is the king of the stage, spinning around, throwing pickups at the audience, making silly faces… Of course, the biggest thing is that he changes his custom-made guitars after each song. I’ll add that he is probably the only musician allowed to do that, as he leads this deed to sarcastic levels when he pick up his four-neck guitar! Yet his playing techinique reamains clean and simple.

Anyway, if you want pure rock’n’roll fun without any spices and additions, the way it was modeled by power pop pioneers, Cheap Trick is still the best band to check out.

Cheap Trick Website.