At The Christmas Ball

It's the Holidays, and no sign of snow in sight.  Alas.

Gonna have a special Holiday post today, with all the Mrs. Santa Claus' weighing in.  Everybody knows Mrs. Claus does all the work, anyway.  And how come she doesn't get her own name? "Mrs. Claus"?  Someone needs to investigate and find out her real name.

So, it's all deep Blues Ladies today, and one hell of a lineup of powerhouses.  Some of 'em are lamenting not having a man at Christmas (whether he's in jail, or unavailable, otherwise, to "trim their tree"), but methinks they're better off without a scalliwag around to mess shit up.  Just our opinion.

The mighty Bessie Smith.  Bertha "Chippie" Hill.  Victoria Spivey.  Marry Harris.  Damn, Santa's in heap of trouble.  This may be the mightiest assemblage of talent we've ever posted in a single sitting.

The Holiday season is filled with the blues.  See for yourself!


Bessie Smith: At The Christmas Ball (mp3)

Bertha "Chippie" Hill: Christmas Man Blues (mp3)

Victoria Spivey: Christmas Morning Blues (mp3)

Mary Harris: No Christmas Blues (mp3)

Please consider donating whatever and wherever you can, not just during the Holiday season, but year 'round.  

Hang My Star

Ho, ho, ho, holiday humpers!

Oh boy.  Every once in a while we feel the need to apologize for our musical selections, particularly around this time of year.  This is one of those days.  And, unfortunately, this will not be our last.  Hell, we haven't even reached the Red Sovine level of Xmas weepers yet (hold, they're comin'!).  But today...well, today's an extra special level of Holiday pain.  But we sorta feel like we redeemed ourselves at the end.

Remember, if you don't like today's selections, come back tomorrow for something totally different!  We're an equal opportunity gift giver!

Ok, let's get this over with...

A pedal steel drenched Xmas lament from a slumming, tearful Ferlin Husky.   Buskers, before busking was suddenly cool band, Goodies (who may actually be a British comedy troupe) weigh in with a naughty little tune that we must sincerely apologize for (but not too heartily, since it's pretty funny).  Then Elvis wannabe and cult favorite Orion contributes a pure countrypolitian holiday holla'.  And, to keep some semblance of critical and quality control, we offer the mighty Soledad Brothers to help hold things together! 

Santa's a Dirty Git!

Ferlin Husky: Christmas Don't Seem Like Christmas Anymore (mp3)

Goodies: Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me (mp3)

Orion: Christmas Spirit (mp3)

The Soledad Brothers: Hang My Star (mp3)

Good times.  More nonsense to come!

Day 3 of the Holiday daily posting!  Hell, we made it three days in a row (4, if you count the Chicken Diamond post below)!  This really is the season for giving!

Let's start things off with a boozy little Country tune about life in a bar at Christmas, by Loy Blanton.  Tinsel, twinkling lights, mistletoe, sad songs on the jukebox, and all the lonely lost souls.  A perfect Country Xmas.

Follow that up with a screaming, organ drenched ode to the greatest Xmas gift of all, courtesy of the mighty trashgaragepunk two-man-band gods,  Bantam Rooster!  Man, does it get any better than this?


Sour and Sweet Santa!

Loy Blanton: Christmas at the Jersey Lily Lounge (mp3)

Bantam Rooster: Let's Just Fuck For Christmas (mp3)

Thanks.

Santa Hose

Ho ho, happy holiday humpers!

Day 2 of our daily Xmas blowout!

Didja all enjoy yesterday's merry mistletoe missive?  It just keeps gettin' better from here on out!

Our first present, wrapped in shiny silver organ and pedal steel, comes from the mighty and mighty seminal Evan Johns (a legend), a slurred and sleazy plea to ol' sainted nick (and not the traditional tune you think it is).  Man's a hitch-hiker, and Santa's got his brake lights on.

Next up in the torn wrapping paper sweepstakes are The Diamond Rugs (who's new rekkid, "Middle Brother" is an essential 2012 release..more on that later this year).  A perfect Replacements-style "Here Comes a Regular" for the Xmas crowd.  Yummy and as sad as eating boston market alone on xmas day.  Yeah....

Kick it Santa Style Mofo's!

Evan Johns and His H-Bombs: Please Mr. Santa Claus (mp3)

Diamond Rugs: Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant (mp3)

Merry xmas!  Now put down yr latest toy and think about somebody else.  There are an estimated 1.5 million children who have been homeless this year.  Not "takers"...children.  Giving is a gift. 

Hangin' Christmas

And, here we go.  For the next 24 days, nuthin' but daily Holiday oddballs, weepers, hoedowns, and trash.  Did we mention daily?  Good gravy, we most certainly did! We're doing our damndest to ensure we don't repeat a single song from the last 5 or 6 years of this insanity, but if y'all have a request from previous years' stocking stuffers, let us know and we'd be happy to oblige!

Let's not mess around, then.

We'll kick off 2012's joyeux noel with a, ahem, swingin' little number from seminal Detroit rockabilly shouter, Jimmy Kirkland. 

No, it's not a Clint "Chair" Eastwood tribute.  Considering our tendency to start these things off in a bit of a "double entendre" fashion, y'all can probably guess where this song is going.  Hey, the man just wants to decorate your Christmas tree.  Nothing salacious about that, right?

Just one tune today, but we figger it might be enough.  More to come!

Jimmy Kirkland: Hang Them High At Christmas (mp3)

Please consider helping the needy this Holiday season.  We're all broke these days, but even the tiniest bit helps. 

Chicken Grease

Ok.  Insane Holiday/Xmas/Whatever posts start tomorrow!  Daily posts from now 'til the end of the year!!  The very best of non-traditional Xmas music, designed to stir the soul and loins.  Followed by our world famous Best Of List.  The War on Christmas (tm) starts in less than 24 hours.  Can you handle the excitement????

But first,  let's take a few minutes to revel in the glory that is the new record, II,  from Mountain fave, Chicken Diamond!

Haulin' devil-boogie junk in an Ed Roth jalopy,straight outta France, this is a record that burns, deep hellfire blues and gasoline vapor trail.  Chicken Diamond, his very unrighteous self, kicking voodoo sleaze across a dirty horizon,  howling and gnashing for your soul, blurred bluespunk, one man prophet, the pedal goes down and it's straight to the cliff of damnation, jeering the whole way.

The record kicks off with two stoned fuzzed ravers, "Disappear" and "Gold Rush", where Diamond peels off layers of skull, deep amphetamine revved up geetar fuckery, the smashed gravel vocal and primordial rhythm busting transistor tubes, hallelujah!  "Rock 'n' Roll People" starts of with a blood curdling scream and proceeds to fuck yr innards to jelly, and we dare you to defy it!

What's most interesting is when Diamond slows the pace, the distorted yowl still there, but taking on an even nastier menace, like the man who has been in your bedroom, watching you sleep.  Tracks like "Highway", "Get Town", and, most particularly, "The Gone" are haunted, visceral lamentations, in the most biblical sense, a fatalistic sense of menace and dread filling closed, almost claustrophobic spaces, daring you to enter a chamber of bad dreams and regrets that tug at darkest thoughts.

To that end, "The Gone" is the most chilling track, with Chicken Diamond intoning, over and over, permutations of "Thrill is gone/its gone away from me/Girl you done me wrong/you'll be sorry someday".  This isn't a lament, it's a promise, and over a hypnotic, distorted, guitar line, with the sparest of thumping rhythm behind it, Diamond proceeds to shred the very nature of evil, and the roles we all play within.

Damn, it's a good record.

It's called II.  It's by Chicken Diamond.  It's put out by Beast Records (on cd (ick) and VINYL!).  You'll be challenged to hear a better record all year!


Chicken Diamond: Country Song (mp3)

Xmas tunes start tomorrow!  Come on back for a visit!

I Thought Turkeys Could Fly

Well, this year's been sort of a bust, hasn't it (posting-wise, at least)?

We'll try to make it up with the world famous Holiday posting coming up soon (to those not in the know...daily posting starting shortly after Thanksgiving...with tons of non-traditional xmas songs, followed by our "keen" insights (ahem) on the best rekkids of the year)! Got a few more artists we want to cover before then, so cross yr fingers that we can fit 'em all in before the Holiday Madness.

Some special Thanksgiving tunes down below, but first, a public service announcement...

One of the things we're most thankful for in life is Norton Records, keepers of the flame, label extraordinaire, rock'n'roll oasis.  One of the most essential labels out there (just look at their mind-boggling catalog), and one of our favorites (you'll see a few of their rekkids in our best-of list). Hell, Esquerita is on their home-page.  And Hurricane Sandy hit 'em, and hit 'em hard, with their Brooklyn warehouse suffering extensive damage, and a massive loss to their entire catalog.  Efforts are underway to recover what they can, but they need our help.  They are asking for donations to help preserve the massive level of rock'n'roll goodness that they have spent so much time and money preserving. 

If anyone has a few dollars to spare, to help preserve a national institution, please consider donating.  To sweeten the pot, I will make a personal mp3 mix for anyone who can donate whatever they can.  Just let us know you donated, what type of mix you want, and we'll get to work!

So, then, a few Thanksgiving tunes, though not very respectful, to help y'all through the most aggravating of Holidays.  Sometimes there really is too much of a "family" thing.  Cynical?  Who us? 

See y'all really soon!

William Burroughs: A Thanksgiving Prayer (mp3)

Loudon Wainwright III: Thanksgiving (mp3)

Mary Gauthier: Thanksgiving (mp3)

Fuck it, just donate to Norton Records, already!

Waiting For Nothing

Got to see the mighty River City Tanlines about a month ago, and it was a hell of a show.  So, let's talk about 'em, shall we?

Born from the ashes of, well, a hell of a lot of bands, it's interesting to note that lead singer/guitarist Alicja Trout has played with Lost Sounds (Jay Reatard's band, of course), Limes, Harlan T. Bobo, and Jack Oblivian (amongst many others), so her cred's already solid, for those who care about such things.

Stepping out on her own, Ms. Trout and her cronies have forged a killer new rekkid,  Coast to Coast (on fave rave label Big Legal Mess).  It's a corker, a round-house rawk 'n' roll slab. Backed by Terrence Bishop and John Bonds, Trout cranks out nervy Runaways meets AC/DC geetar sludge and sunshine vocals, sweetened with vinegar and honey pot buzz. Girl band candy melody (like short and spiky "Can You Handle This Heart")  collide with car-crash hot rod buzzsaw speed for demons rhythms and Flying V histrionics.  "Can't Stand You Anymore" is a 50's ode to the ultimate kiss-off, complete with hand-claps and raging pissed-off Ronettes-style go-go power.

In an alternative universe the tracks "Pretty Please" and "Stop My Heart"  would both reside at the top of the charts, all motorcycle rubber burned love and hate, high-school bad girl who kicks more ass than you could ever hope to do!  


River City Tanlines: Pretty Please (mp3)

Keep on Rawkin' in the free world!

Brokedown Everywhere

Hey everybody!  What's goin' on?

If y'all got a free weekend on September 22nd, come on out to Cleveland, Ohio for another iteration of the Deep Blues Festival (20 bucks...obscenely cheap!)!  One night (a Saturday), 9 bands, including headliner Bob Log III, Robert Belfour, Molly Gene, Ten Foot Polecats, The Scissormen, the mighty Husky Burnette, and more killer bands!  You can fly or train(our choice, naturally) it in on Saturday, head home on Sunday, no work lost, and a party all day and night!  We'll be there, of course.  So should you!

In that that tradition, let's talk about the new record from Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, "Between the Ditches"!


Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band is, in actuality, not a big band in terms of personage.  It's 3 folks, Reverend Peyton his very self (and his awesome beard), Washboard Breezy Peyton, and Aaron "Cuz" Persinger.  A family affair? But Rev. Peyton himself...he's a big damn man, in terms of stature and talent, and the record is a party from start to finish.

Get yr grill a'goin', throw on some corn cob goodness, some greasy BBQ, line up yr guests and get ready to boogie yr ass southern fried. Summer's fading, and this record's gonna take y'all to the promised land, fading sunsets and moon-howled grind! 

You've got some serious slide geetar meet washboard rhythm (yes, "Breezy" indeed kicks out some killer washboard god-head), slinging a hollerin' hootenanny, with Rev. Peyton testifyin' over the top,  nasty and groovin' like hay bales alive, the dirty boards thumping and under-stompin', thwack a doodle on rhythm drumming, tribal and do-si-do...

That sometimes the band takes a break from sweat-inducing backyard rave-up, and allows for either slow, coleslaw-thick close-dancin', or well-traveled sense of place that demands a raised glass, only adds to the very nature of the vision of the record.  It's a travelin' record, primed for diesel and rooted to the very earth we walk.

Shake, sugaree, indeed!

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Brokedown Everywhere (mp3)

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Shut The Screen (mp3)

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Clap Your Hands (mp3)



 Please keep buying independent artists! 

You Can't Make Me Doubt

Hey, now!  We're back!  No excuses.  Let's just start postin'!

Got a special treat for y'all today.  A mighty artist recently exhumed by the essential Mississippi Records.

To be fair, we know nothing about Boyd Rivers, other than the info given to us via the liner notes.  So, pardon us, but we're gonna briefly quote:

"Boyd Rivers was born on December 25th, 1934, in Madison County, Mississippi.  He was brought up in the Church by his Mother and was influenced by regional musicians such as Clyde Maxwell and others, as well as his uncle, the Gospel Legend, Reverend Cleophus Robinson.

"Rivers started out on two nails and a wire on wall, and played Blues guitar as early as 13, but changed to Spirituals around the age of 19.

"Axel Kustner and Siegfried Christmann recorded Rivers later in the same year for the L&R Records series "Living Country Blues" and he appears on "Living Country Blues Vol. 11". A chapter was also dedicated to Rivers in Alan Young's book, "Woke Up This Morning", published in 1997 by the University Press of Mississippi. "

It's a gospel-blues record, full of holy sanctified trance'n'testifyin', Rivers' guitar playing the deep mystery, Mississippi raw, rough and elegiac, a transcendent drone born in fire and mile-deep waters, never still but roiling on stranger guided by voices undercurrent.

Rivers' voice has all the yearning and rumble of a prophet, from darkened door to neon-lit houses of ill-repute to the cobwebbed corners of the shining mansion on the hill, when the choir has gone home, and he's left to sweep the ashes of sin shed and glory and grace floating like motes in the sun-dappled beams of light.  Like Papa Lightfoot, edged with a growl and fabled into myth, a shrouded prophet, with an eye toward hypnotic, hallelujah geetar glory, a mumbled swaybacked picked and wobbled ecclesiastical sex'n'sin'n' salvation wagon ride.  

Anyone interested in the very primal nature of American music should seek this record out.  It's a revival meeting hollerin' in a  jukejoint!

Boyd Rivers: That Fire Shed In My Bones (mp3)

Boyd Rivers: I Done Died One Time (mp3)


Nothin' to say here....just keep supportin' folks who are keepin' the flame against the darkness of generic crap!