Flashlite #220

Scott MillerDevastating week for rock’n’roll… This time we have four obituaries to cover. Scott Miller was one of the most creative college rock musicians from the 80s. He was the leader of Game Theory, which had a series of very interesting albums back in the day and that was often played on college radio stations across the US. Then we have Storm Thorgerson, the leading artist in the Hipgnosis art collective who designed many of the iconic album covers throughout the 70s. Lead singer of the Australian band Divinyls, Chrissy Amphlett also died a few days ago at the age of 53. And the most recent news is that Richie Havens, who had a memorable live appearance at the original Woodstock, also passed away. Beside tributes to these artists, we also feature the new single for Turf War, new albums for Carla Olson and Todd Rundgren and a new band Bazooka from Greece.

Horseflies – Human Fly (Live in CLE);
Bazooka – Penny;
Turf War – Born To Run Free;
Heavy Times – Poison Ivy;
Byrds – She Don’t Care About Time;
Carla Olson with Richie Furay – She Don’t Care About Time;
Textones – Upset Me;
Game Theory – Erica’s Word;
Game Theory – White Blues;
Game Theory – Couldn’t I Just Tell You;
Todd Rundgren – Couldn’t I Just Tell You;
Todd Rundgren with Metropole Orchestra – We Gotta Get You a Woman;
Led Zeppelin – For Your Life;
Pink Floyd – Corporal Clegg;
Divinyls – Only Lonely;
Richie Havens – Freedom.

Michael Tarbox – Works and Days

Michael Tarbox - Works and DaysMichael Tarbox used to lead a great band called Tarbox Ramblers. Hailing from the Boston area, Tarbox Ramblers were the leaders of the new blues revival for the past 15 years with a blend of academic and heartfelt approach that won our hearts. The first album for Rounder Records in 2000 was a furious collection of authentic and raw blues which relied on the primitive traditions on North Mississippi blues and Appalachian folk. The second album also for Rounder A Fix Back East was a step towards rock roots, split produced by one and only Jim Dickinson and Paul Q. Kolderie who we know best from his work with Morphine. Then, a long decade with sporadic limited edition discography followed.

Through all that time, Michael Tarbox all but stood idle. He toured with a revolving line up the country multiple times, even entered the studio a few times. The songs were ready, but the band had a chronic problem with drummers. Without the record label, struggling to keep the band together, and perhaps some other reasons, Michael decided to crowdfund his next record last year, without much help from the outside. The new album, Works and Days is the outcome.

Without pretensions, the record is simply imagined as a collection of songs, without a particular theme that connects them. This is understandable, the record has been conceived over a large period of time, but the variety actually contributes to the overall quality of this new record. In the long period since 2004, I can only imagine that there was a lot of songs to choose from, but Michael and his producer friend Chris Rival have good ears and experience to identify those songs that worked particularly well in the studio at the time of recording.

In essence, the record is an emotional aggregate of many changes that Michael went through. The friendships that were evolving, struggles that they were going through and the arrival of his daughter. But the good news is that the relief is in the art. This truly comes through in this record.

Sound-wise, the new record dwells even more into rock territory. While the first record was almost entirely filled with traditionals, the new record, much like the second one is filled with original songs. From wild rocking Hey Mister Starlight over Lou Reed-like The Night Train To Chelsea to soft and almost spoken word title song The Tower of Works and Days, there is a little bit of every rock’n’roll taste on this record.The final result is intimate and exciting, and for me at least, long awaited record that will stick around for quite some time.

First published on rockxs.com.

Flashlite #219

Shannon McNallyToday we feature the new music for the long time rock legends Meat Puppets who have a new album Rat Farm. Our old friends from Australia, City of Cool have a new single and we pick one song in a string of demos by a musician from Šabac, Marko Artuković. Shannon McNally has a new album called Small Town Talk, which is a very nice tribute to late great Bobby Charles. Dirtmusic is also back with a new song. New band today James And The Ultrasounds from Memphis.

We also say goodbye to three musicians today. Ed Cassidy from Spirit passed away in December last year, but I only recently found out about that. Rick Huxley from Dave Clark Five passed away last month. But, perhaps the most devastating loss that we cover today is death of Ted Flynn, a guitar player from Cleveland who passed away last week at a very young age from a bad asthma attack.

Spirit – Mr. Skin;
Michael Tarbox – Hey Mr Starlight;
James And The Ultrasounds – Apocalyptic Love;
John Paul Keith – The Last Last Call;
Bobby Charles – Street People;
Shannon McNally – Street People;
Gram Parsons – I Can’t Dance;
Natural Child – I Can’t Dance (Live in CLE);
City of Cool – Listening Wind;
Meat Puppets – Original One;
Meat Puppets – Bad Love;
Marko Artuković – Neka;
Nude Beach – Walkin’ Down My Street;
Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band – Shirley Darling;
Scarcity of Tanks – Head of Electrons;
Spirit – Coral;
The Dave Clark Five – Glad All Over;
Dirtmusic – Fitzcarraldo.

Flashlite #218

DiemondsThe central piece today is our large block in which we compare the music of famous rockers and their children. We paired up Ethan and Glyn Johns, Ambrose Kenny and Broderick Smith, Lilly and John Hiat and Trixie and Chris Whitley. We also listen to the Cynics live in Cleveland, new music for Jimbo Mathus and we have one new name – Diemonds from Toronto in Canada.

Richard Thompson – Where’s Home;
Wendy And The Rockets – I Can’t Tell You;
Diemonds – Take on the Night;
Cream – The Coffee Song;
Jimbo Mathus And The Tri-State Coalition – White Buffalo;
The Cynics – Crawl;
The Cynics – Blue Train Station (Live in CLE);
The Mock Turtles – Time Between Why;
The Byrds – Why;
The Replacements – Bastards of Young;
Ethan Johns – Don’t Reach Too Far;
Faces – Stay With Me;
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – Guns and Horses;
Lilly Hiatt And The Dropped Ponies – Big Bad Wolf;
John Hiatt – Woman Sawed in Half;
Chris Whitley – Narcotic Prayer;
Trixie Whitley – Hotel No Name;
Bob Dylan – Simple Twist Of Fate.

Flashlite #217

White FenceMost of our show today is filled with interesting new power pop bands. We start off with the Allrightniks from Virgina, then JoDee Purkeypile from Texas. The New Medicants is a duet formed by Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub and Joe Pernice, one of the Pernice Brothers. Mark Crozer, who used to be in Jesus and Mary Chain, now plays power pop with The Rels over in Charlotte NC. We also introduce Todd May from Columbus OH and Frank Bango from Delaware. Towards the end of the show we depart from the given genre and sample a new record for Timothy Presley aka White Fence.

Eamon Mcgrath – Carefree Highway;
The Allrightniks – Nobody Knows But Me;
JoDee Purkeypile – She Can Ride a Bike;
The Records – Teenarama;
The New Mendicants – This Time;
Mark Crozer – Put Those 80’s Records On;
The A’s – Words;
Todd May – Alphabet City;
Frank Bango – Too Lazy to Love You;
Slim Dunlap – Radio Hook World Hit;
The Replacements – Radio Hook World Hit;
White Fence – Pink Gorilla;
Ty Segall And White Fence – Scissor People;
Dave Alvin – 4th of July (Live in CLE);
Hollis Brown – Walk On Water;
Bob Dylan – Ballad of Hollis Brown.