feedtime

Last night I went and saw a truly sublime performance with SD and G$. Feedtime (aka feedtime) got their start in Australia during the late 70s.

I never heard of them until 2012 and likely neither did you. This is the type of discovery that makes music reissues so thrilling.

Feedtime is a trio that plays swampy blues punk. Both the guitarist and the bassist regularly employ a slide. It is caveman-ish and cathartic. It is a sound as old as the hills. But this trio took this limited sonic palette and they just OWNED it.

Bill Meyer, critic for the Chicago Reader explains them this way: "Imagine if Wire had met in shop class instead of art school and loved Blind Willie Johnson as much as Eno."

In hindsight, this is a classic case of a band just not getting their due respect.

Not that they seemed bitter at all last night at the Empty Bottle playing to a half empty room at $10 a head. In fact, they just appeared to be having the time of their lives playing out before an appreciative audience.

The performance wasn't showy, it wasn't contrived, but damn if it wasn't effective at being evocative of every menacing rumble that came before (i.e. Link Wray) and after (i.e. Mudhoney, whose lifelong fandom likely instigated this reissue).

Listen to Mark Arm's favorite feedtime tracks below and then do yourself a favor and seek out the box set - it is only $35 on Amazon for four LPs.

The Thrill Is Gone.

I wanted to post about seeing B.B. King on Friday but there is no way to respectfully be honest without seeming like I am trying to tear someone down just because they are well past the prime of their life.

Frankly, I don't want to risk the bad karma because one day I hope to be old.

And I should be so lucky to have people paying ridiculous amounts of money just to be in the same room with me no matter how much I meander on.

Then I saw this group of photos on Cherrybombed and I had to snicker. THESE characters you can make fun of in their enfeebled years and no one will judge you.

You can see the lot of them from photographer Federico Chiesa and makeup & special effects artist Caroline Trotta here.

Band with the stupidest name ever that I end up listening to at least once a week...

Mostly due to my thumb error, the first band on my iPod gets a LOT of unintended airplay.

This band has got to have the worst name ever, but dammit if there songs are not super catchy.

I don't mean worst name like Anal C*nt, or Maggot Tw*t, (actual band names) although those are really pretty bad as far as marketability and appeal.

This band is called A.

That isn't a typo. They are just - A.

I often wonder if they would have gotten farther if someone with some media savvy would have foreseen how this name might play out on search engines.

I mean, did they think it operated like the phone book and they just wanted to be listed first under the category of Rock Bands? What happens when the next band directory comes out and some group decides to call themselves A A Advanced Rock Musicians? Now you're screwed right out of some potential customers!

Still, when they come up (as they did tonight) I often listen to a few songs from their high energy and fun 2002 release "Hi-Fi Serious" before I go to whatever it was I was trying to listen to in the first place.

If the phrase "radio friendly" isn't a de facto put down for you, this band is a crank-up-with-the- top-down-on-a-sunny-afternoon kind of trip.

Post Script: So, did you ever have this happen? You go spelunking on Youtube for something and then the video you land on says - this band is playing the Metro in a few weeks.

What serendipity you say! What luck! It never turns out though, this time it was the All-American Rejects that somehow got linked to the page.

The last time that happened to me Youtube informed me that Rage Against The Machine was playing a sports bar in the South Suburbs.

Video Roundup

I don't have anything deep to say about these songs (and their videos) - I just want to share them.

Astronautilus featuring Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara.

Birdy Nam Nam

Handsome Furs - What About Us (Uncensored) OFFICIAL VIDEO from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Handsome Furs

Nicolas Jaar - who is going to be at the Metro next Saturday but I am going to be out of town dammit

Logan Hardware - 2/25/12

Attempting to make good on my promise in my last post. Here is the haul from an unexpected Saturday afternoon jaunt to Logan Hardware.

For some inexplicable reason G$ sent me a text mid-morning to see if I could go record shopping. Even more bizarre, I found a way to make it happen when the kids both went down for a nap.

This was the haul:

Bruce Haack - The Electronic Record For Children - $13

Cut Chemist & Nu-Mark - Live at the Variety Arts Center - $9

Cypress Hill - 12" Phuncky Feel One b/w How I Could Just Kill A Man - $7

Rawkus Presents Soundbombing II - 12" Eminem's "Any Man" b/w Pharoah Monche's "WWIII" $4

Quannum feat. Lyrics Born & The Poets of Rhythym - 12" I Changed My Mind - $4

This is how I feel about my scores a few weeks later:

Bruce Haack might be a techno pioneer but I definitely feel burned on this one. I was hoping to add to my canon of quirky music that is also accessible to the kids but this is just a murky mess. It promises to increase awareness but really it just promotes nausea. I don't like it at all and I won't be inflicting it on my kids. I will be looking to sell this one back somewhere - too bad I didn't get the Japanese import version on cd.

In 2006, Cut Chemist sampled a Bruce Haack track on his debut solo album.

That is what passes for a transition here in The Junk Drawer... This live DJ set from 1997 is the standout purchase. My son will LOVE the superhero intro and it is great to hear this hip-hop from 15 years ago mixed in with funk and soul. This is before Serrato, before laptops; just two djs and their turntable antics LIVE. With the Three Little Pigs singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" and Bill Cosby as Fat Albert talking about Halloween back in the day as part of the sonic tableau, this one has a greater chance of getting played for the kids than Bruce Haack that is for damn sure.

The Cypress Hill 12" was a little pricey but it scratched an itch that had been building in me ever since a few months ago. There was talk of a tour emerging featuring a double bill of Public Enemy and Cypress Hill but it fizzled out. But before it was clear it wasn't going to come together I had started researching the feasibility of making them an offer for the annual benefit concert I am responsible for.

What do you think? Would that have been a cool show for a homeless advocacy group? Since it is now merely an academic discussion, how much would you have paid to see that show?

This is what is known as a Double A-Side single cause both tracks are deserving of top billing. For my money though, this is the stronger track:

The Soundbombing 12" represents how deep I had to dig at Logan that day. G$ and I found ourselves in a neglected corner of the room where they had their techno and 12"s. This store has numerous charms but their stock of techno and hip hop records are not chief among them.

Don't misunderstand me though, I am glad to have this record for this price. I am especially happy to own both the instrumental and the street acapella of the Eminem track. It feeds my "latent DJ" that will one day burst forth.

This was back when Eminem was still having fun just being a miscreant.

"Cause any man who would jump in front of a minivan

for twenty grand and a bottle of pain pills and a minithin

is fucking crazy! You hear me?"

You just can't argue with that logic. It is airtight.

Staring at the Quannum 12" right now make me realize I should probably institute a rule of no more than two 12" singles per shopping expedition.

Now I would be the first in line to purchase a Lyrics Born bobblehead, and I once memorized the lyrics to "8 point agenda" but do I really need a Stereo MCs and a DJ Spinna remix of this song? Sure it was only $4 in the store but now it just feels like freight in my collection.

All in all, more winners than losers. Plus Joust was set to infinite lives so I was able to get up to Wave 39(!) before my hand cramped up and I had to take a break.

Record Buying Log

So, I need to seriously curtail my record addiction for the next month.

Why, you ask? So I can save up money to buy records of course!

If that doesn't make sense to you then you have never been to the CHIRP Record Fair.

In one month I am gonna get up early, hopefully eat some of my wife's delicious pancakes and then head into the city with G$.

We want our wallets to have as much discretionary income as possible. We are already discussing which vendors we want to hit first. Wishlists are going to be created and shared so we can help each other cover more ground.

Yes, I realize how this sounds but I am way past apologizing.

Screw Record Store Day and their ridiculously unattainable releases! I realize this is not their intention but the collecting community has turned that promotion into something that treats the ardent collector like a junkie; like a target for abuse and deserving of derision.

This is the Junk Drawer baby, so I want to find something personal, something no one else is likely looking for, something that scratches an itch I only knew I had once I hold it in my hands. So once again, CHIRP Record Fair is where I am placing all my chips for the next three months.

Which brings me back to the immediate issue at hand. G$ and I NEED to keep one another from spending any money on records for 3o days in order to justify our spending at CHIRP.

One way I hope to stave this off? Review my recent trips to record stores. Critique the scores and see just how well I fared.

In order to do this I will have to listen to everything I purchase and I figure I can locate my weak spots. Hopefully this exercise will be enjoyable enough that I will keep it as a habit. Patterns will start to emerge and hopefully I can enter a more thoughtful and reflective collecting phase.

What do you think? Is this a good idea as a personal habit of a chronic record collector? Do you trust in my abilities to make it an entertaining read? Do you keep track of how much money you spend on music or do you think it is wiser not to have that figure readily accessible?

OMG!!!

I am not big on texting but when I got this one moments ago from my friend Wendi I had to admit that I do enjoy getting updates from friends seeing shows. Especially when they are this exciting:

"Dude, Greg Norton is playing bass with the Husker Dudes tonight! The REAL Greg norton!!!"

Wendi's love for Husker Du is so ardent that she posted on FB earlier today that she was going to once again see the Husker Dudes perform.

Wendi's devotion to Husker Du is so great that she took the time to figure out how to put the umlaut on a text message.

Wendi just got to show her Husker Du tattoo to the REAL Greg Norton! The noise she types on this kind of radical fan experiences is SQUEEEE!!!

I wish I could teleport to Quenchers right now to give Wendi a hug.

Teeth

Found out about this band on Collapse Board tonight. Everett True posted about the singer's death and his words were moving and his description of the music intriguing enough to make me click through to Bandcamp.

Ten minutes later and I have completed my transaction on Paypal. There really wasn't any other choice. The music is that good. I am listening to it all the way through for the first time right now so I will just put Everett's quote here so you can get an idea of what you are in store for when you click on the sounds below:

I know that my old coffee-drinking partner Jack Endino would love this, and I know that I love this, and I know Steve Albini loves this, and I know Thurston Moore would love this, and I know Mudhoney would love this, and I know Gary Jarman loves this … and Bangs wept. How much more of a fucken recommendation do you need?

Earlier today my mind had wandered into the memory pool of Cobain's suicide. I pictured my friend SD, tears streaming down his face as he opened his apartment door.

The thing is, I wasn't even in the same city as SD when it happened, it was D that had stopped by to borrow some cds for a project. Memories are funny like that. I fished around further to pull out my own reaction. I was alone in Iowa City, drinking a 40oz of malt liquor and wishing I had either friends nearby or something stronger to drink.

Anyway, back to Teeth - if you like Tad, The Melvins, Nirvana or the like - you will definitely want to check this out.

RIP John, I never knew you but I am enjoying your music. I am glad that you stuck to your dreams to get this record out before cancer took you.

Digital De-Clutter...

So, my 80 gig iPod is full. If I want new music to go on that means something has to come off. I realize that this is a very modern, first world kind of problem but it is one I am terrible at dealing with.

Whenever I sit down in front of iTunes to cleave some space other contradictory impulses kick in - "oooh, I think I need to give that another listen." "who gave me this album to try out? - did I ever get back to them?" "I don't have enough jazz or blues on here, I better not give this up just yet".

Excetera, Excetera, Excetera until over an hour has gone by and all I have been doing is listening to snippets of music. Not really enjoying anything. Not getting anything done.

Short of buying a newer iPod and thereby staving off the inevitable - I needed to get disciplined about this or I am never going to actually enjoy the new music at my disposal.

So last night I sat down with the oven timer and a goal. Get rid of 20 albums in 10 minutes. Don't think, don't stress, and DON'T LISTEN to anything, just...delete.

Here is what got the ax. How did I do? I think pretty well but if you think something deserves a permanent spot feel free to make a case.

Now I just need to commit to this exercise 5 more times...

1) Poison Arrows EP

2) Raven - Back To Ohio Blues

3) Red Red Meat - There is a Star Above the Manger Tonight

4) Space Streakings - 7-Toku

5) Isaac Hayes - Soundtrack to Shaft

6) Jucifer - L'Achtrienne

7) King Cobb Steelie - Project Twinkle

8) Little Axe - Champagne & Grits

9) Metric - Live It Out

10) Ministry - The Last Sucker

11) Mu - Out of Breach (I kept the song "Like A Little Bitch" for some reason, I must have thought it would come in handy)

12) My Morning Jacket - Chocolate and Ice EP

13) Mylo - Destroy Rock 'N Roll

14) Nirvana - Unplugged

15) Orbital - In Sides (Disc 2)

16) Peaches - Impeach My Bush

17) Quasi - When The Going Gets Dark

18) Richard X Presents...

19) Rodriguez - Cold Fact

20) Roots Manuva - Dub Come Save Me