Originally released in February 1973, Raw Power was the third, final and most brutal record by legendary Detroit rockers the Stooges. After being dropped by Elektra in 1971 due to the poor sales of their first 2 albums, 1969's self titled debut and the 1970 follow-up Fun House, the original group had for all intents and purposes disbanded. A meeting between frontman Iggy Pop and David Bowie led to Pop signing on with Bowie's management company and heading to London with guitarist James Williamson to start writing a Pop solo album. Unable to find a suitable rhythm section, they called upon the services of Stooges members Ron and Scott Asheton, with Ron switching to bass from his previous role as guitarist. The newly renamed Iggy & the Stooges began recording in earnest in late 1972.
There is not much that can be said about this album that the title doesn't already imply. From the opener "Search & Destroy" through the finale of "Death Trip" it is a fully charged, nihilistic behemoth of slashing riffs, primal rhythms and Pop's one of a kind yelp. The new Legacy edition features a remastered version of Bowie's original mix, which is quite different from the previously reissued 1997 version that was mixed by Iggy himself. While the Iggy version brings out all of the bottom end that was lost in the Bowie mix and gives the album an overall heavier feel, which I personally like better, this version of the Bowie mix is not without it's merits. With the vocals and guitar pushed way up in the mix it has a slightly more lo-fi quality that was definitely picked up on by the early punk rockers who lay just around the corner.
Also of special interest is the bonus disc, which contains a full show from October of 1973 at Richard's in Atlanta. With Iggy in prime audience berating mode the group plows through most of Raw Power's tracks and a few until now unreleased gems. Although the playing is great throughout the show, there are hints of the troubles that would destroy the band only a few months later. It's funny to hear at one point an audience member saying "I don't think he (Iggy) likes us very much." Truer words could not have been spoken.
The late Karen Dalton has been called a folk singer's folk singer. With a voice falling somewhere between the smokey jazz of Billie Holiday and the pure Appalachian folk of Jean Ritchie, Dalton was one of the brightest stars of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the early to mid 60's. Her ability to make any song from any genre her own made her a favorite of contemporaries like Fred Neil and Bob Dylan. Dalton's first solo album, It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best, released in 1969, was a loose, folk-inspired album featuring traditional songs as well as those of peers Tim Hardin and Fred Neil. In late 1970 Dalton headed to Bearsville Studios in upstate New York with producer/bassist Harvey Brooks to begin her second album, In My Own Time. In contrast to the "playing in the living room" looseness of her debut, this sophomore effort featured well seasoned session players and an even more genre stretching song selection. Credit must go to Brooks whose skills at arranging and selecting songs keep the album flowing smoothly despite the disparity of the material. The musicians as well play with great finesse and restraint, never getting in the way of Dalton's voice, providing the perfect musical backing.
And what a voice. Never has the word "yesterday" sounded as heartbreakingly joyous as it does introducing the opening track "Something On Your Mind." And it only gets better from there. Next up is quite possibly one of the most unique versions of "When A Man Loves A Woman" ever recorded, her voice teetering on the edge of its range. After the first few tracks' slightly r&b feel, the mood switches abruptly, but somehow effortlessly, to 30's era Appalachia with "Katie Cruel," featuring Dalton on banjo and a lonesome fiddle off in the distance. Other highlights include a faithful rendition of the Band's "In a Station" and a glorious take on the country standard "Take Me," made famous by, among others, George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
Unfortunately after the release of this album, Dalton pretty much retired from the music business. Always a staunchly independent artist, she could never be pigeonholed to a specific genre which made her "unmarketable" by music business standards. She passed in 1993 without fully realizing the huge impact she would have on a whole new generation of artists.
Arbouretum mainman David Heumann's J. Mascis meets Jerry Garcia guitarwork has shown up on releases by the Anomoanon,Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Cass McCombs and a host of other less well known indie rock groups. Being a highly sought after session player may be the reason why his own group has only released three full length albums in their seven year existence. While the group's two previous releases, Long Live the Well-Doer and Rites of Uncovering, featured a revolving line up of players, their newest release, Song of the Pearl, has a consistent line up throughout. Absent also are the sprawling instrumental passages that made up large portions of their previous albums. None of Song of the Pearl's eight tracks much exceed the six minute mark, focusing much more on the actual song than extended guitar workouts. Not that they don't still rock out, as evidenced on the track "Infinite Corridors," where Heumann and fellow guitarist Steven Strohmeier duel a la Neil Young and Danny Whitten circa 1969.
Heumann's songwriting shows a strong British folk influence, especially that of Sandy Denny and Fairport Convention. The track "Down By the Fall Line" mixes a haunting, celtic-inspired melody with a thick almost grunge-like musical backing. Elsewhere, the group experiments with a string arrangement on the title track and two drummers on "Thin Dominion." These embellishments never get in the way of the song, however. They only serve to further enhance the atmosphere of each piece.
The album concludes with an opium-paced version of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow is a Long Time." Though the idea of covering one of the most covered artists of all time may seem suspect, Heumann and co. pull if off with restrained beauty. A perfect ending to a great album.
Check out this video for "Down By the Fall Line" and let me know what you think. Cheers.
Josh Homme has always been an innovator. When he was a teenager he formed Kyuss, the seminal stoner rock band. Not only did the band pioneer a sound, but their live shows established them as legends of the
underground. They played in isolated parts of the California desert and the band would run
their equipment entirely off generators. The combination of original music presented in an original way never resulted in commercial success. However, they have been highly inspirational for scores of underground metal bands, and the band's influence is still held in high regards today.
After Kyuss disbanded, Homme started his own project Queens of the Stone Age. Homme has been the only constant member through five studio albums and a wide array of sounds. Starting off as a riff rock band in the late 90's, Queens of the Stone Age has evolved into a band that pushes the limits of mainstream rock music. Their latest album, 2007's Era Vulgaris, is an unique and captivating album. The guitars are sparse, but somehow sound huge. The drums are mechanical, but somehow groove. The album is simple and complex at the same time, and took Queens to a whole new level of weird.
Era Vulgaris features songs with huge hooks revolving around repeating guitar riffs and odd vocal melodies. The drums are electronic sounding at times, but focus on snare and kick drum grooves that encourage head nodding and body moving. The sparse use of toms and cymbals make the drums sound more like a beat machine than a live drummer, but somehow it only adds to the groovy nature of the record. The vocals are densely layered with harmonies and backgrounds, and the guitars make the most of effects and feedback to give the album a truly distinctive sound. An odd album for sure, but without being weird just for the sake of eccentricity. The album is a puzzle made of many complicated pieces to show a simple picture. Era Vulgaris is like a coloring book comprised of fine art.
Josh Homme, a self-diagnosed musical schizophrenic, not only breaks new ground with his group Queens of the Stone Age, but also stays busy with a wide variety of projects. His group The Eagles of Death Metal have released 3 albums in the last 6 years and in his newest group Them Crooked Vultures he is joined by rock legends Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones, and Alain Johannes. Homme also runs his own studio Rancho de la Luna in the California desert. There he has recorded and released 10 volumes of “The Desert Sessions," impromptu writing and recording sessions featuring other well known musicians. 2009 also saw Homme producing music other than his own for the first time, the Arctic Monkeys wonderfully bizarre 3rd album Humbug. A true musical polyglot, there seems to be no instrument or piece of music that Josh Homme can't totally rock out.
Sonic Youth has always dabbled with the eccentric qualities of recorded music. However, they have spent the last few years putting out music with strong pop tendencies, focusing on arrangement and hooks. Last year Sonic Youth returned to creating music that was interesting, intense, and certainly weird.
Sonic Youth has had many different phases in their long career, but they have always remained original and inspiring to legions of musicians. They spent the 80's playing very noisy, wild, and pretty much out of tune rock music. The 90's saw the band become a little more aggressive, but they still crafted long winding songs layered with guitar feedback and echoed vocals (they even started to tune their guitars a little more) Then unsurprisingly Sonic Youth shifted their sound again in the 2000's.
2002's Murray Street, 2004's Sonic Nurse, and 2006's Rather Ripped are all records that showed progression and development, but they were comprised of songs that were soft-spoken and more easily digestible. Rather Ripped was the culmination of the pop rebirth of Sonic Youth, featuring songs under 4 minutes in length and strong pop arrangements. It was almost unbelievable that this great noise band was also capable of writing great pop songs. However, a lot of fans were still itching for the strange that Sonic Youth had done so well in the past.
After a three year recording break, the band came back with The Eternal. While not as odd as some of their 80's material, this album definitely marked a transition for the band. It should come as no surprise that this was their first independent release in 20 years. The band felt a sense of freedom after leaving Geffen Records, and they were able to craft a jagged, intricate record. The Eternal is aggressive, unique, and definitely worth an attentive listen. It features pounding drums, dissonant guitar melodies, intrusive vocals, and as always with Sonic Youth a perfect blend of recording effects and organic tones.
The mark of a great band is being able to progress and diverge from the expected path. Sonic Youth has never sold a million records, but they have established themselves as one of the most unique, inspirational, and just plain cool bands of the past 30 years, and for some reason I just don't think they are near done.
Arctic Monkeys have certainly had a unique career. Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, went to #1 on the British charts by the time the young lads had barely reached maturity. Their next album, Favourite Worst Nightmare, debuted at #1 on the charts and the ten songs on the album occupied the top ten spots of the British Singles Chart. Such successes are not easily followed, and it was hard to guess just what would come next.
Fortunately, instead of trying to manufacture record sales through a recreation of their previous sound, the band enlisted the help of Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures frontman Josh Homme. They packed up and headed to Homme's Rancho De La Luna Studio in Joshua Tree, California. It turns out spending a couple months in the desert does wonders for your music.
The album is a downright creepy batch of songs. Its full of eerie guitar and vocal effects, but still contains the intriguing lyrics and melodies that have become the band's trademark. Songs such as “Dangerous Animals” and “Dance Little Liar” interweave drum hooks and guitar lines that leave you excited, but also looking over your shoulder, as the ominous sounds build up suspense without ever really reaching a climax.
This album might not sell as well as their previous releases, but I strongly recommend giving Humbug a good listen. The band have reached the next level in artistry, and their continued progression is a mark of a great band.
In 1968 the band Moby Grape headed to New York to begin recording their second album Wow. While there the group's guitarist, Skip Spence, attempted to break down the hotel room door of two of his bandmates with an axe, reportedly under the influence of LSD. He was subsequently sent to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital for six months. Upon his release he purchased a motorcycle with money advanced to him by Columbia Records and, still in his pajamas, headed to Nashville to record his first and only solo album.
That, in a nutshell, is the backstory of Oar. Recorded in just three days in December of 1968 on an old 3-track machine at Columbia's Nashville studios, Oar is quite possibly the purest artistic statement ever released by a major label. Spence wrote the material during his six month stint at Bellevue and plays and sings every single note on the record. Stylistically, the record ranges from the country-folk sounds of "Cripple Creek" and "Weighted Down" to the 9 minute psychedelic drone of "Grey/Afro." The ramshackle quality of the recording reflects Spence's mental state during the period; an aural simulation of the schizophrenic mind. Often music can take us to the edge, but very rarely does it describe the fall.
Oar went virtually unnoticed upon its release in May of 1969 and Spence, apart from a handful of Moby Grape reunions in the 70's, fell even deeper into drug addiction and mental illness. He passed in April of 1999, just days shy of his 53rd birthday. Over the years, Oar has taken on a cult-like status, influencing artists as diverse as Beck and Tom Waits. In fact Beck, along with members of Wilco, recorded a version of Oar this past year which is available on his website.
Forty years after its original release, Oar continues its influence.
Few records of the last 20 years have made such an enormous impact, yet remained so mysterious, as Spiderland, the second and final release by Slint. The band formed in 1987 in Louisville, Kentucky from the ashes of hardcore band Squirrel Bait. The original group consisting of Brian McMahan (guitar/vocals), Britt Walford (drums), David Pajo (guitar) and Ethan Buckler (bass) recorded their debut Tweez in 1987 with legendary engineer Steve Albini. The record featured bizarre arrangements, spoken/yelled vocals, and extreme dynamics and was virtually ignored when released in 1989. The following year the group, with bassist Todd Brashear replacing Buckler, began recording their follow up with producer Brian Paulson. The one word that best sums up the music on Spiderland is spooky. From the black and white cover of the four members' heads floating in an Indiana quarry to the mysterious, otherworldly songs within, the record is unlike anything before or since. It is just as far removed from the members' early 80's hardcore roots as it is from the glam/hair metal popular at the time. The almost jazz-like arrangements and quiet/loud dynamics inspired a whole generation of "post-rock" bands. Beginning with the chiming guitars that introduce "Breadcrumb Trail," it is immediately clear that this is a wholly original music with little outside influence. Strangely enough, Pajo has mentioned that the band had been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen and old country music around the time of the album's recording, which may account for the somewhat haunting sound of the record. Listen to the closing track "Good Morning Captain" alone in a darkened room and try not to get a little spooked. The band dissolved shortly after the record's release for undisclosed reasons, with members going on to other musical projects such as Papa M, The For Carnation and Palace Brothers. In 2005 McMahan, Pajo and Walford reunited for an eighteen date tour and again in 2007, performing Spiderland in its entirety at the All Tomorrow's Parties and Pitchfork Music festivals. Check out the clip below of "Good Morning, Captain."
Originally released in February 1973, Raw Power was the third, final and most brutal record by legendary Detroit rockers the 
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