Paul Hamann worked as the recording engineer at Suma Studios in Painesville, OH. The first time I saw his name was back in my old home town, when I was reading the liner notes to fIREHOSE album fROMOHIO. But, when I spoke to him about that record, it was just one of many that he did. His breakthrough happened with the first Pere Ubu album The Modern Dance. In the following years, Hamann recorded almost all Pere Ubu records and many of the essential Cleveland underground records: The Girls, Human Switchboard, Pagans, Pressler Morgan… Hamann had a way to capture raw power from almost any band that asked for his services. Part of it is an excellent set up at his Suma Studio, but also, his ear and unmistakable instinct to press the recording button at the right time. That was recognized by many of the Alive Records bands, who used his services. Black Keys made another huge mark on modern rock’n’roll and a large part of it was due to the spirit of Suma embodied in Paul Hamann. His departure is leaves a big void in the recording world. This episode of The Little Lighthouse is dedicated to his work.
fIREHOSE – Riddle of the Eighties
Pere Ubu – Non-alignment Pact
Pere Ubu – Modern Dance;
Pagans – Street Where Nobody Lives;
Pagans – Whats This Shit Called Love;
The Girls – Jeffrey I Hear You;
Human Switchboard – Prime Of My Life;
Pressler Morgan – You’re Gonna Watch Me;
15 60 75 – Here In The Life;
The Trees – Happy to See You;
fIREHOSE – In My Mind;
fIREHOSE – Time with You;
fIREHOSE – Some Things;
fIREHOSE – Understanding;
Brimstone Howl – Bad Seed;
The Black Keys – Strange Times;
Left Lane Cruiser – G Bob;
Mondo Drag – Fade Out (Into Space);
This Moment in Black History – Forest Whitaker;
The Safeties – No Fun;
Scarcity Of Tanks – Over And Done.
Today we start of with the new music from Guided By Voices and their former band mate Tobin Spout. Then we hear new music from Jenny Don’t, this time with her band The Spurs. Kelli Halliburton from The Pierced Arrows is also there. Jake Xerxes Fussell hails from Columbus, GA and he covered an awesome Jimmy Lee Williams song in a manner similar to Ed Crawford tribute to Elizabeth Cotten long time ago on a fIREHOSE record. Paul Kelly is back with the newest record and we also introduce Rahill Jamalifard and her band Roya. Jason Look of Part Time Lover is live in CLE with a Gene Clark song.
Today’s show is filled with some very interesting come backs. Ed fROMOHIO Crawford, who used to be in fIREHOSE, has a new album out with his new band FOOD, which also includes Eric Vermillion (ex Gumball) on bass. The new record is an ep called Four Pieces Form Candyland. 80s roots rockers Del Fuegos are also back with an ep called Silver Star. Going deeper in the past for the old masters, we have Dr. John returning to his voodoo psychedelic roots with the help of Dan Auerbach. And the Texas troubadour Ray Wylie Hubbard is also back with a great new record called Grifter’s Hymnal, sounding incredibly fresh. We also have the new record for the Drive-By Truckers keyboardist Jay Gonzalez called Mess of Happiness, which offers a very sober take on power pop, compared to alcohol drenched Americana of his native band. Today we also represent the latest studio record for the French band Magnetix called Droque Electrique. We had their live recording in our previous show. This time in our segment called Live in Cleveland we have Cleveland’s own New Salem Witch Hunters.
Legendary bass player of Minutemen and fIREHOSE is a busy man. He tours with several bands right now, his Stooges gig being obviously the most demanding thing. So, his solo records come out in large intervals of time. His last three solo records were all rock operas. Hyphenated-Man is a collection of over 30 short songs, which are really choppy parts of a larger single piece, which is the whole record itself. It’s a dense work that requires repeated listening. Also, Watt does not stick to a firm libretto this time, but the idea is to capture busy life of an over-the-hill punk rocker who still lives the old postulates of true a punk.