Go Over All Terrain

The Mountain Goats—Here is the band that is mostly the work of John Darnielle. Songwriter extraordinaire. Folk musician who loves Death Metal. Prolific writer of songs. Armed with guitar and voice. His voice isn't for everyone, but he works with what he was given.

The track below is a terrific one from "Babylon Springs" a 2006 EP.


Sometimes I Still Feel Bruise

1979, Brendan is digital

This burning coal

This burning coal

The crush in the darkness

The caverns of dirt

Burning hot then out

I hold up the Rock of burning coal

Left with the heat but not the fire 

Left with the present not the future

No right turn on red

Hand face

Itchycoo Park

Small Faces were a hard sell to me and my friends. Mostly we knew them as the Faces with Rod Stewart. And Rod Stewart was a bit too over the top Rock for us to be come big fans. Radio hits and all that, then "Do you think I'm Sexy" came along and hammered a nail in that coffin. But the Small Faces are not Rod Stewart. He was a replacement singer. The Small Faces were Mods. I'm still not sure what Rod Stewart is. Proof or their worth is embodied in this great tune from 1967.

And if you haven't heard, Ian McLagan, the keyboardist with this outfit just died at 69 years old.

Itchycoo Park

Serious Cred

I'm just trying to bolster my own credibility by attaching my wagon to the dueling stars that is Ono and End Result. Here is a flyer from 1983 for a show at the Noise Factory.

Zine in my Spleen

Who doesn't love a good zine? Ok, well maybe the answer is most people. But I have always been inspired by them, by the energy, the slipshod graphics. Do it yourself please. I recall a trip to LA in my youth where we would eyeball the Punk shops on Melrose for all it was worth. I recall picking up this zine as well as a few others. They were xeroxed to the max and beautiful in so many ways. This one turned into a record label not unlike Sub Pop releasing all manner of punk rock bands from Big Black to the Butthole Surfers.

Broncho-that's the band name

Broncho—Sure, ok. But yes, The Class Historian is a monumental place to be. Oklahoma power-pop rock and roll outfit, recent time period, that is all.

Class Historian

Also

Units

I saw these guys play a couple of times in Los Angeles and they were a really great band. Origianlly they were a 3 piece, drums and 2 keyboard players. They later added a female vocalist. This song is from there first release with the rubber stamped cover. This release contains Work, Cowboy, High Preasure Days, and Cannibals and was released in 1979. All 4 songs are fantastically terrific. They are originally from San Francisco and I was surprised when they didnt become more popular.For a synth band they tapped into incredible energy in the live setting.

High Pressure Days

Bird house in my soul

When I was a young boy my Brother, my Mother and I moved from Australia to Phoenix, Arizona. I was always into making stuff and playing. My Grandfather, Orbie, and I made this birdhouse one day. He had some basic hand tools and some wood lying around, and we made this terrific house. We painted it glorious white, which helps with the heat in the Arizona sun. I vividly remember us climbing up on the roof to put it on top of the house on Coolidge Street. It sat there for many years and last year when I was visiting I saw it in the shed. Still looks pretty good with that 40 years in the sun look.

Novel approach

I'm writing a novel without any words. Here is a small snippet, but apparently this is one of the parts that does have words.

Mt. Goats

I have been a fan of the Mountain Goats for some time. They have released quite a few records and I have most of them. This is a band that I will usually buy the new releases as they come out. The band is mostly the work of John Darnielle, he was the sole member for many years and writes all the songs. And often plays solo shows playing an acoustic guitar. This track below is from an EP called Babylon Springs, released in 2006. The drummer also plays in Superchunk, Jon Wurster. Peter Hughes plays bass. I love great song writing and he delivers. He has a nasally, slightly annoying voice, but it doesn't seem to effect my love of his music. He is a very interesting fellow and recently published a novel. And also has a love of death metal.

Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise

 

The Barclords

Now that's the Barclords.mp3

Here is a great tune from Urge Overkill, an 80's Chicago band I used to love so well. This was first released on a Sup Pop single for  the singles club (Singles Club, May 1991). It eventually made it onto the  Stull EP. This is all around 1991-92.

George Harrison's Duo Jet Gretsch (on display at Bloomingdales along with Ringo's drums) from last year.

Ringo Starr's drum kit

Ringo Starr's drum kit circa Shea stadium. These were on display in Bloomingdales, NYC.