Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Something different and quite cool


Occasional I-94 Bar Texan correspondent and blogger Ken Shimamoto dropped a few people a line over the weekend about an improv musical project called PFFFFFT! that he's part of. The observant will suspect he's corrupted the moniker from "PTOOF!", the name of a Deviants album. Read on:

Not to be _that annoying guy who toots his own horn via email_, but I've recently done a couple of experimental improv gigs under the rubric PFFFFT! and I'm pretty stoked with the results (particularly set 1, track 12, and the second set in its entirety, which are audible here.

PFFFFT! is Clay Stinnett on drums, Matt Hembree on bass, Tony Chapman on guitar/synth, and myself on guitar. Clay and Tony played together in the great improv band Ghostcar. Matt and I play together in Stoogeaphilia, and he's played bass in some of my very favorite Fort Worth bands: Bindle, Goodwin, and Pablo & the Hemphill 7 (he still does in a couple of those, in fact). Tony and I have played together in "Lee & Carl's Jam" at the Wreck Room (R.I.P.). I don't believe that Matt was acquainted with Clay and Tony before the first PFFFFT! show.

Last fall I played an improv gig with Clay and we vowed to do another "soon," but nothing ever eventuated. Three weeks ago, I was eating a chicken fried steak at Fred's Cafe when Clay walked in. We got to talking, I booked a gig at the Chat Room on Magnolia Street, and we played our first show a week later -- two sets totalling about two and a half hours' worth of music. All of the music was created spontaneously on the spot, without any advance preparation (except for reading a Myspace post about improvisation from ex-Ghostcar trumpeter-in-exile Karl Poetschke).

Friday, April 25, 2008

Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - The Bob Seger System

Some good ol' fashioned soulful rock and roll from Bob Seger before he became acquainted with stadia. Dig the big drum sound. Was Iggy thinking back to this when "Lust For Life" was laid down in the studio?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Divisive rock criticism and the Ramones

Rockcritics.com is one of the most entertaining blogs on the Web. And it's Canadian, for shit's sake. Here, blogger Scott ponders the divisive nature of some reviews with reaction to the Ramones' first opus a prime example.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Beasts in Bilbao (R.I.P.)

Yes, it's true. The Beasts of Bourbon have almost certainly shuffled off their mortal coil in a collective sense, breaking up on the eve of their final European tour show in Germany. The outlook for another reformation is grim although no-one seems to be saying anything officially. Here's some footage from a happier leg of the tour in Spain, some hotel hi-jinks from the band we thought might not die.

How Clear Channel Programs America

Clear Channel only owns the music business in America? Think again and have a look around in your own backyard after you read this thoughtful piece about the lengths some people go to to establish and retain market dominance.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Drinking with Drunk & Disorderly

The latest I-94 Bar Podcast (number 13, if you're counting) is chockful of songs about drinking. Download/play/subscribe via the interface at right. Here's the playlist:

I Wanna Drink - The Deviants (This CD Is Condemned - Total Energy/Alive)

Drunk - Alcoholics Unanimous (20 Years of Tanked Up Tunes - Steel Cage Records)

Good Morning, Headache - Dark Carnival (The Last Great Ride - Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Two Days Off, Five Days On - Hell To Pay (Two Days Off … EP)

Super Fucked-Big Drunk - The Me-Thinks (The Make Mine A Double E.P. - Indian Casino)

Drinking Alone Under The Moon - Sour Jazz (Rock & Roll Ligger - Acetate Records)

This Bar - Hitmen D.T.K (Moronic Inferno - Zeus Records)

BBQ Liquor - The Pink Fits (Fuzzyard Gravebox - Off The Hip)

Booze To Blame - Ian Rilen & The Love Addicts Ian Rilen (Passion, Boots & Bruises - Phantom Records)

Drunk On a Train - The Painkillers (Drunk On a Train - Blazing Strumpet)

Broke, Drunk & Stoned - The Hangmen (Metallic I.O.U. - Acetate Records)

Pub - Cosmic Psychos (Go The Hack - Survival Records)

Drive Thru Bottlo - The Veebees (Crack Us Anotha! - Ocker Records)

Half Price Drinks - The Deviants (This CD Is Condemned Rock - Total Energy/Alive)

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Stems in London last month

Playing at the Dirty Water Club:



Apr 25 - Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Apr 26 - The Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, Victoria
Apr 27 - Apollo Bay Festival, Apollo Bay, Victoria
May 2 - Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, Western Australia
May 3 - The Leopold Hotel, Perth, Western Australia
May 4 - The Indi Bar, Scarborough, Western Australia
Jun 28 - Primitive Festival, Rotterdam, Noord-Holland

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

But where do they stand on Japanese whaling?

Spotted by Ken Shimamoto of the Stashdauber blog and I-94 Bar editorial fame: Vision of French band The Holy Curse on their Japanese tour of a couple of years ago.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Another one of those Podcast things


Episode 12 is up and you can find it streaming via the player at right or get it here. Playlist as follows:

Gravybillies In The Sky - The Band Who Shot Liberty Valance (Outlaw Death Laser Drinkers From Hell - Turkeyneck Records)

Show Me Your Tits - Stinky Lou And The Goon Mad With Lord Benardo (12 Roots ‘n Boogie Blues Hits - Voodoo Rhythm Records)

4 Flights Up - Screamin’ Stevie And The Credit Union (Four Flights Up - Turkeyneck Records)

Cut You Loose - Digger & The Pussycats (Let’s Go To Hospital - Spooky Records)

Dick Shake - The Juke Joint Pimps (Boogie The House Down Juke Joint Style - Voodoo Rhythm Records)

Baby Jane - The Hydromatics (The Earth is Shaking - Suburban Records)

Frustrating Sound - Radio Moscow (Radio Moscow Blues - Alive Records)

The Colour Of Her Eyes - Laurie Wade’s Cavaliers Pretty Ugly - Incessant Noise Recording)

I’m a Liar, Play With Fire - Sonic Assassin (State is Enemy Forever! - Freakshow Records)

Red Glare -Brimstone Howl (Guts of Steel - Alive Records)

I Am The Light - Even (Even - Rubber Records)

The Sky Belongs to Us - Nunchukka Superfly (If Ya Not Careful With Electricity It Will Kill Ya - Chatterbox Records)

The Devil - The Hangmen (In The City - Acetate Records)

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Statistical read-out on Meatloaf


Apologies to whoever I stole this from.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Visitors live 2008: Living World

From the revived Radio Birdman-outgrowth's recent support spot to the BellRays in Brisbane. Pity you can't hear Pip.

X: Mother

The (Australian) X's cover of John Lennon's "Mother" has long been a set highlight, a cathartic mid-set primal scream. Few people have seen the filmclip the band shot to go with it. Now you can.

It's not embeddable to go here to watch it on YouTube.

Another Drunk & Disorderly podcast

It's streamable from the interface at right or downloadable from here.

Onetime punk toilet is now truly disgusting

Thanks to NESB Hallucinate for the heads-up: NY Press drops by the former site of CBGB - now a home to $750 Cheap (sic) Trick T-shirts and Doobie Brothers (puke) clothing. Read it here. Weep.