12 posts tagged “60s”
)So below are a few albums that were released on November 4th that was largely ignored. I finally had the time to put them all in for a spin:
roguemotel.com ♥ myspace.com
Rogue Motel are an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. I've been noticing lately that there seems to be a ton of bands coming from the upper west coast (mostly between the Seattle and Portland), and they all seem to be pretty good.
Anyway, to start off, this is one of my overdue review, but to be fair, there was a lot of confusion about the actual release date. I try and schedule reviews to go up just prior or around the release date, so it's kind of important to me anyway to make it timely. Unfortunately, they moved the release date to election day... see note above.
I think the band might have been named after living in a cheap motel while recording their album, far away from their home, in Kentucky. The result is this moody but intense album called Daylight Breaking.
The title, I think came from their best song (in my opinion) called "Hurry Up": "Early morning but the sun's not up yet, I came to look for something to ease my head". This is a pretty upbeat song with a simple, but memorable and catchy, chord.
I also really dig, "Smoke and Vines", particularly the line:
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the lyrics has a rebellious feel to it and that the band will continue doing what they're doing.you want to change me, get in line
You can currently get the album digitally via amazon or the itunes (I've been having a lot of crashes relating to itunes, so I hate them).
futurecloudsandradar.com ♥ myspace.com
I wanted to mention these guys for my Christmas 2008 for their song "Christmas Day 1923", but obviously a lot of songs were left out this year. Well, I reckon there's always next year.
To talk about them, you'll have to go back to the late 90s when they were known as a the power pop band called Cotton Mather. They had a string of albums before rising to fame when Noel Gallagher asked the band to tour with Oasis.
Perhaps he was tired of the power pop thing, but singer Robert Harrison went on to form Future Clouds & Radar, a more art rock/orchestral/psychedelia, much in the vein of, say the Beatles' Sgt Pepper.
Listening to their second album, Peoria, released on Election Day, it feels very sixties. Check out their perfectly 60s pop song, "Old Edmund Ruffin". Doesn't it sound like something John Lennon might sing on ?
I generally enjoy all the songs with trumpets ("Eighteen Months", "Mortal 926"), but not so much the crazy synthy chaos sounds (the middle of "The Mortal"). Thankfully it's just one song that I didn't really get along with.
If you've ever liked later-The Flaming Lips or psychedelic Beatles, you really need to give Future Clouds a try. Get your own cloud 9 at the usual locations (amazon, emusic, etc).
myspace.com/bstcollective
Finally we have Music for a Saturday Evening by BSTC, also released on Election Day. We don't normally get soul albums in house, but when we do, they certain stand out among all the indie-rock stuff we get.
Like the 60s-inspired music of Future Clouds and Radar, the BSTC (short for BlackStone Theatre Collective) is drowned in 70s disco, soul and jazz. They seem to be very proud to represent their deep roots in these genre of music.
The band/collective is mostly producer Andy C. and multi-instrumentalist, Tunji, with singer Keanna Johnson. I think Johnson only sings on a few songs, but she seems to be the face of the band.
I personally thought the two stand-out tracks for me are "B.S.T.C." and "Jazz in Outerspace". Both instrumental songs offers some outstanding beats and groove. Since I wanted to represent Johnson's vocals in the song, I thought the excellent hip-pop song "Get It" should be used.
Fans of soul music, Buena Vista Social Club, or Jason Miles, should really take note of BSTC.
Can't get enough of their music? Check out that widget thing, it will play a few other songs from them.
You can get Music for a Saturday Evening from various places, usually amazon or emusic.
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
podcast.weheartmusic.com
news.weheartmusic.com
This is a very new band with Lars Iversen and Mette Lindberg; and apparently they are known for their debut single "The Sun Ain't Shining No More." This song is a bonus b-side on their Around the Bend EP; in fact there are two "Sun" songs (one a remix by Bruce Aishe, which is much more dancetastic and I didn't like it as much as the original mix). I have to say I was really blown away the first time I heard the "Sun" song - it is very much like 60's girl pop, but kind of having a eurodance background track.
Recently, their song "Around the Bend" is featured in advertisements for the new iPod Touch. Listen to the song and you can see why they are the hot and the happening. You have to love the catchy trumpets and horns, right?
Despite calling themselves 'tour', they are currently not on tour - but expect them to be when they will be promoting their debut full-length album in early 2009. For right now, you should enjoy the Around The Bend EP.
PS, I think the EP is a digital release-only on iTunes.
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Links: theasteroidsgalaxytour.com myspace.com/theasteroidsgalaxytour
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10/08/08 Cate St. Pub Hammond, LA
10/09/08 Alabama Music Box Mobile, AL 10/10/08 N World Brewery Ybor City, FL 10/11/08 Rollins College Orlando, FL 10/13/08 Tin Roof Charleston, SC 10/14/08 New Brookland Columbia, SC 10/15/08 Spazzitorium Greenville, NC 10/16/08 Cave w/ Nathan Oliver Chapel Hill, North Carolina 10/17/08 Black Cat Washington DC, Washington DC 10/18/08 Rudy’s New Haven, Connecticut 10/21/08 Bog Scranton, PA 10/22/08 Space Hamden, CT 10/23/08 Knitting Factory (CMJ Fanatic Showcase) New York, New York 10/24/08 PA’s Lounge Boston, Massachusetts 10/25/08 Metro Gallery Baltimore, Maryland 10/28/08 Basement Nashville,TN 10/29/08 The Nick Birmingham,AL 10/30/08 Tasty World Athens,GA 11/14/08 Blue Moon Saloon Lafayette, Louisiana 11/21/08 Spanish Moon w/Man Plus Building Baton Rouge, Louisiana 
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softtargetsmusic.com ♥ myspace.com
Jesse Corry, on the road, talking to us about:
- The Chicago Soft Targets
- "Frequent Flyer" is like an ex-gf and new album, "Heavy Rainbows"
- Cover artist, Jared Olsen
- Tour highlights
mybigbrass.com ♥ myspace.com
Christiaan Mader on his weekend off:
- Preparing for new tour and CMJ onslaught
- The secret origin of Brass Bed
- live vs studio
- Bassist Jacques keeps a food/tour blog, imhungryihavetopee
- Writing process
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weheartmusic.com
I love April March and France Gall.
Episode #26 used/mentioned these bands: Stormy Monday, Holdin Caufield, Soft Targets, Brass Bed, Serge Gainsbourg (W♥M, Charlotte Gainsbourg (W♥M), April March (W♥M), and France Gall (W♥M).
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PART ONE
Jon from Mason Proper was nice enough to stop by and talk about:
- the #2 most added album on College radio station this week
- The origin of "oly oly oxen free"
- "There is a Moth in Your Chest" title and two different versions of their album explained
- Moth vs Oxen
- The story behind their friendship with Cloud Cult
- Upcoming CMJ
- Insound.com's exclusive limited DVD and remix contest (ends Sep 30th).
Alex tells us about his recent Southern Lord purchases...on his BIKE!
PART THREE
Vu ♥ 60s girl pop and soul, so he mentions: You Bet!, The Shangri-Las, and Gossip.
CREDITS: Special thanks goes to Jessi Hector at Sneak Attack, Alex from We Heart Music, Christina from Ariel Publicity, Jacky and Strings, Abbotfinney, and, of course, Jon Visger from Mason Proper.
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06/19/08 TunbridgeWells Assembly Hall
Discography
06/20/08 Basingstoke The Anvil 06/21/08 St Albans The Alban Arena 06/22/08 Southend Cliffs Pavilion 06/25/08 Salisbury City Hall 06/26/08 Coventry Warwick Arts Centre 06/27/08 Peterborough Broadway 07/03/08 Detroit,MI Comerica CityFest 07/05/08 Milwaukee,WI Summerfest 07/06/08 St. Paul,MN Taste of Minnesota 07/09/08 Lansing,MI Common Ground Fest 07/10/08 Uncasville,CT Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun Casino 07/11/08 New York Fillmore @ Irving Plaza 07/12/08 Atlantic City,NJ Trump Marina 07/13/08 WesthamptonBeach,NY Westhampton Beach PAC 07/15/08 Alexandria,VA The Birchmere 07/17/08 Anaheim, CA The Grove 07/18/08 N.LasVegas,NV Cannery Casino 07/19/08 Agoura Hills,CA The Canyon Club 07/20/08 San Francisco,CA Regency Center 07/23/08 Portland,OR Wonder Ballroom 07/24/08 Seattle,WA El Corazon 07/25/08 Langley,BC(Vancouver) Cascades Casino 07/26/08 Calgary, AB Deerfoot Casino 07/27/08 Edmonton,AB Century Casino 07/29/08 Saskatoon,SK Dakota Dunes Casino 07/30/08 Regina,SK Casino Regina 07/31/08 Winnipeg,MB Club Regent Casino
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What's your name?
Who's your daddy?
Is he rich, is he rich like me?
The truth is, The Zombies needs no introduction, judging from the feedback on the Zombies' two most famous songs "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season". What people aren't aware of is that the band is still around, released an album May 26th called The Zombies And Beyond. I don't have the new album, but it looks like a greatest hits and, er, "beyond".
The Zombies was part of that "British Invasion", lead by The Beatles in 1960. Their first hit single was "She's Not There", followed by "Leave Me Be" (not charted) and "Tell Her No".
I thought I read somewhere that they are also going on tour this Summer to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Odessey and Oracle, originally released in 1968. Although this album feature the massive hit "Time of the Season", the album actually charted pretty poorly in the US Billboard chart (at #95). I believe the main reason for this was because the band had broken up in '68 and there wasn't any major promotional push for the album. Still, the single did amazingly well on radio in both the UK and the US.
Although the band re-formed with different members (usually fronted by singer/songwriter Rod Argent), but it wasn't until 2008 that all the surviving members returned to the stage as The Zombies. Paul Atkinson, the original guitarist, died in 2004 due to liver and kidney disease.
So if you're a fan of the Zombies, look for them on tour (they're doing a few dates with Jefferson Starship) and, of course, they'll be performing their big hits from the 60s.
Trivia: "odyssey" had been misspelled by the cover designers and the band were reportedly "deeply embarrassed".
Bonus: Here's a cover of "Time of the Season" by Snowden[W♥M]. I saw this band perform this song live, and it was pretty amazing.
Links:
myspace.com/thezombies
rodargent.com
colinblunstone.co.uk
I'm sure you've all played Simon Says when you were a kid, right?
The game's simple enough, one person gives instructions and you must obey it (but only if he says "Simon says"). Failing to follow Simon's instructions, you are eliminated from the game.
So, Simon says enjoy these songs:
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Discography
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I have here The Outfit Movement Vol 1 by Philanastasia (official/myspace), a New York-based underground hip-hop artist that reminds me of House of Pain (in fact, the opening song on this promo album is a reimagined "Who's the Man"). His biography lists him as "a white boy that isn't trying to sound like Eminem", which I think is a good thing.
The Outfit looks like a group of rappers (Lazy K, Neph-E-Neph, The Last American B-Boy, Dyverse The First, King Just, Lounge-Lo, Rahsaan, and Dr. Ama), under Phil Anastasia's umbrella, doing original rap lyrics over existing recorded music.
What impressed me about this album is that it sounds remarkably clear as the whole thing is recorded live, hosted by one of the Outfitters, DJ Lazy K.
When I heard Gorillaz's "Feels Good Inc" as the backing track for PA, King Just & The Last American B-Boy's raps, I had to smile at how different this song suddenly turned out.
Anyway, the Outfit's mix of "Simon Says" is not that different from the original Pharoahe Monch's version and variants - includes all the rude boobies lyrics.
If you like underground hip-hop, you'll definitely want to check out Philanastasia. If you want a copy of The Outfit Movement Vol 1, it is actually free for a limited time if you purchase their main original album, The Outfit (both CDs can be yours for the low price of $7.99). I don't need to tell you that this is a very good price for a full length.
The Shangri-Las named themselves after a New York restaurant and was together for about six short years. You might have heard of "Leader of the Pack", which is their most well-known song.
If you think two of the girls look alike, that's because they are identical twins Marge and Mary Ann Ganser, while the other original members were also sisters: Mary and Betty Weiss (Betty rarely made public appearance, however).
Their very first recording was actually "Simon Says" in December 1963. This was very early in their career and it definitely has that Motown and Northern soul dance vibe. I love it! I just want to dance whenever I hear this song.
They also have an alternate version called "Simon Speaks", which I don't think I liked as much as "Simon Says".
When they had recorded this song, they were all under the age of 18, with Betty being the oldest at 17.
At the height of their popularity, in 1964, they opened up for the Beatles, The Drifters and James Brown.
Unfortunately, the band went into early retirement after disputes with their record label. They were only 21 and 22 :)
Speaking of pop songs and cute girls, The Pipettes (thepipettes.co.uk) have a b-side called "Simon Says" off their Judy single.
This is pretty standard-Pipettes sound, and since I've already spent far too much time talking about the band early on their career - I would suggest you check out my various articles on them.
They've been pretty quiet lately, their album was released in the US last October with a new cover and I can only assume they are writing new songs in 2008. If I hear any announcements, I'll be sure to let you know.
Finally, 1910 Fruitgum Company (1910fruitgumcompany.com) are actually still around since the 60s.
Their first major hit was actually "Simon Says" in 1968. If you listen to the song, it's very bubblegum pop - which is kind of funny, seeing as the band's named after a candy wrapper that singer Frank Jackell found.
According to their official website, they are now performing with the original band members and recently released brand new albums with old and new hits.
04/02/2008 01:12:08
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
Congratulation to everyone's who entered into the Scion Sampler giveaway, you're all going to receive a copy in the mail. If you emailed to contest@weheartmusic.com without providing your home address, you're not going to get a copy - sorry! The instructions specifically stated that we needed your address so I can have the Scion people do a mass mailout.
This giveaway went pretty well, be on the look-out for another one coming up - I will announce the details when I receive all the necessary instructions.
Anyway, I wanted to mention that I will be doing all my reviews on ♫ew Music (or as I call it "ew music" or "nude music"). Think of it as a W♥M Extra or sister website. I will be compiling a summary (with links and excerpts) every Tuesday.
So what caused this change? Well one of the reason is that I produce a lot of content. I average about 1.5 posts a day, and that may be overwhelming for readers (especially if most of my articles are on unknown bands that no one cares about).
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Recently, I received a wonderful heart-felt letter from Mindy Dotson, singer of The Feminine Complex, a 60s band that Celeste covered last year.
I got permission to reprint the letter here for you:
Hi,
I don't know how I stumbled on your site, but I am so very happy to find you. I am the former Mindy Dalton of The Feminine Complex. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to find out that anyone may still listen to the music we made in the 60's.It may or may not interest anyone to know that I went on to have a long career singing in nightclubs throughout the south and in Las Vegas.
I retired from music in 1989 and now work as a Realtor in Mississippi.
I still sing on occasion with local bands just for fun.
I would like to say thank you to any and all that have found this album and listen to it. We always felt that the group had potential. The band had developed into quite a very good live performance group as well. Someone said that we looked like the glee club. That picture was taken in my home before we went to the airport to fly to New York to do a national tv show.
On stage, however, we wore micromini skirts with fishnet hose, knee high boots, etc. We dressed cutting edge for the 60s. Unfortunately for us, our record company executive died shortly after the record was released, and we lost our opportunity to move forward with a recording career.
Once again, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all who listen to The Feminine Complex. We do very much appreciate the attention.
Keep Rockin!
Mindy Dotson, Realtor
So it really got me thinking that I needed to shift my focus from just (new) music reviews and perhaps go back to my original idea for W♥M: writing about the music that I really ♥.
02/24/2008 00:00:52
vu
my♥posts
www.weheartmusic.com
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Just quickly, I wanted to welcome both Inuit66 and Alex to the team.
This song is one of my favorite song called "Today" by Sandie Shaw. I will write more about her later.
I'm also including her French version.
I have some press release I wanted to quickly mention (you can access more details on press.weheartmusic.com).
For the month of October, Love in October[W♥M] is giving away free stuff on their myspace. Can we expect this every October?
Douglas James Hall[W♥M] is playing at The Paradise this Sunday 7th October 2007. According to the press statement, this venue is a first for him. Here are some of the other performers: Owen Nicholas, Paul Martin, Jessica Grace, and Olivia Flenley.
10/02/2007 09:02:16
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.weheartmusic.com
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We've mentioned Candie Payne a few times on W♥M already, so you should know her name by now. Well, she has a new video out for "One More Chance", which was produced by Mark Ronson. Although the video is for sure cute and reministant of the 60s girl sound, I didn't like it as much as her last single, "I Wish I Could Have Loved You".
I'm including both songs here, you pick the better of the two.
If you notice the video player on your right, the web url points to "candipayne.com". This is a horrible misspelling, the correct website should be candiepayne.com. I have made attempts for the record label to change it, but no one seems to care :/
The single One More Chance will be out August 13th in all record stores.
August 1, 2007 7:24 PM
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.candiepayne.com
I was really excited to hear the English version to "Laisse Tomber Les Filles" at the end of Grindhouse. I didn't know that this song was remade to "Chick Habit" in 1995 (the original song was written by Serge Gainsbourg for France Gall in 1964), by a woman called April March.
So I listened to both song - both are identical, except, obviously, the language. I may be leaning towards the US version only because I understand it :)
PS, It looks like
the Grindhouse soundtrack is available in two CDs, the Planet Terror
soundtrack and the Death Proof soundtrack. Complete track listing can
be found on www.soundtrackcollector.com
UPDATE: OMG! I just remembered that I used to play April March on my radio show!! The song I played was called "Kooky", it was released under the Kokopop label (which was also responsible for the Chia Pet single)! Mel, you probably remember this !! :)
| Dale wrote: Apr 8, 2007 at 6:24 PM |
[this is good] The song also appears prominently in indie flick But I'm A Cheerleader, starring Natasha Lyonne. On the strength of it, I bought the Chick Habit EP and her 2002 album Triggers, which is a lot more electronic sounding.
| destinationmetz wrote: Apr 8, 2007 at 11:40 PM |
I like both versions a lot. Fabienne Del Sol also did an excellent version (in French) on her No Time for Sorrows album, I recommend listening to it!
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