1. Mexican Radio ~ Wall of Voodoo
Who else could be number one really? An instantly memorable song, even if they never did anything else, and as far as most people are concerned they didn't, this would still earn them kudos. Also a great video BTW, clearly the reason videos were invented in the first place. To bad the only copy I could find is a second generation copy. Fucking copyright Nazis.
2. Border Radio ~ The Blasters
One of the all time great opening riffs courtesy of brother Dave Alvin, one of the great all time vocals courtesy of brother Phil. Great piano too. No real video though.
3. Transmission ~ Joy Division
Only Joy Division could make a depressing song about the radio, but nobody ever made depression sound so inviting either. Bernard Albrecht is a sadly underrated guitarist, especially by Bernard Albrecht. And Stephen Morris is a drum pounding bastard.
4. Do you remember rock and roll radio ~ The Ramones
They may have led the leather jacketed punk hordes but hey were old romantics at heart. That Phil Spector collaboration wasn't all that crazy after all, although he clearly was. Later covered by Kiss. But they suck.
5. This is Radio Clash ~ The Clash
The exact moment when they left three chord bashing punk behind. But not too far behind.
6. Top Twenty ~ The Undertones
Granted the relationship between this song and radio is actually pretty slight, title notwithstanding, but what the Hell.
7. Radio Free Europe ~ REM
The master of mumblings finest moment. No I don't know what he's on about any more than you do, but there's a good chance he doesn't either.
8. Rock and Roll ~ The Velvet Underground
Turns out that Lou Reed was another old softy after all. Who knew? Actually after Sunday Morning that should have been pretty obvious.
9. Road Runner ~ The Modern Lovers
Also an even greater driving song, for those who like to multitask.
10. The Spirit of Radio ~ Rush
I don't even like Rush, actually I actively dislike them, but you have to give credit where it's due. Their tribute to the old CFNY is refreshingly unpretentious and has their best guitar riff by far.
11. Moondog ~ The Treniers
Originally done as a tribute/suck up to legendary DJ Alan Freed done circa 1956 by the R&B Doo Wop twins. But he didn't care for the song so it got forgotten. So no video.
12. The Radio Boogie ~ L.C. Smith & His Southern Playboys
Another early track; this time a hillbilly boogie number from 1954 from this otherwise obscure guy. It's since been covered by various bluegrass and rockabilly bands giving it a second life.
13. Do you remember Rock and Roll Radio ~ The Ramones
The Boys take another shot at breaking onto the airwaves with a radio anthem. Cleaner production this time. Radio ignores them again. Hey they even made a video, what more did you people want?
14. Radio Radio ~ Elvis Costello
The Ramones might not have been able to bludgeon their way onto the air but Elvis somehow managed it.
15. The left of the dial ~ The Replacements
However the Replacements couldn't buy a hit and had to rely on campus/community radio stations in Canada and the USA which are normally found on the left hand side of the FM dial. This was their tribute.
16. Listen to the radio ~ Tom Robinson Band
Normally known for his radical gay anthem (which pretty much doomed him in America of course) but this is yet another romantic ballad to the radio. Later resulted in a hit cover version in Canada by The Pukka Orchestra.
17. The 59 Sound ~ The Gaslight Anthem
The New Jersey Boys do their tribute to radio and Springsteen.
18. Sound System ~ Operation Ivy
The California boys do their tribute to radio and ska/punk.
19. Capital Radio One ~ The Clash
"You know what guys? We'll never get on the radio like this". Not in America anyway.
20. Blacks/Radio ~ The Psychedelic Furs
Only on the original UK version of the first album as some twits at the record company thought that Americans would find it offensive. Which is a little odd since nobody can make out most of the lyrics anyway.
21. On my radio ~ The Selector
One of the most beloved and versatile and also the most unstable of the 1980's Ska bands. Taken from their one and only album. They later reformed and covered their own song for this video.
22. Radio waves ~ Orchestral Maneuvers in the dark
Taken from their experimental Dazzle Ships album, before they got really lush and poppy.
23. Blasting Radio ~ The Desperate Bicycles
Another hopelessly obscure track; this time from one of the early UK post punk bands who put out one album and disappeared without a trace. No video of course.
24. R.A.D.I.O. ~ The Candidates
A now defunct band from Kitchener Ontario with a rousing radio anthem. That was of course completely ignored, so no video.
25. Rue Morgue Radio ~ Creepshow
It's the most blatant example of product placement/sucking up since...umm...The Treniers (see number 11) but that doesn't mean it's not a catchy song.
26. Gasoline Radio ~ Real Gone
Another defunct independent band from Toronto with a radio anthem you will never hear.
27. Radio ~ ~ System of a down
It's really stoopid but it's catchy.
28. Who listens to the radio ~ The Sports
A post punk band from down under who showed up in 1978 sounding like Thin Lizzy or The Boomtown Rats, had a couple of near hits and then vanished, at least in this hemisphere.
29. Clap for The Wolfman ~ The Guess Who
Yet another tribute to radio's past, although when this was done in the 1970's it was still possible to not sound bitter about it (see below). Later redone by Winnipeg rockabillies The Rowdymen.
30. The Last DJ ~ Tom Petty
This time it's not a wistful tribute to radio like those of Lou Reed, Tom Robinson or the Blasters, but a bitter rant about a lost age innocence. Which frankly has been gone for a long time.
31. Love her by radio ~ Billy Jones
Dating back to 1927 for this first radio ballad, at least the first one anyone can remember. Jones was also a member of a radio vaudeville troupe called the Happiness Boys who had a bunch of hits at the time. No video though. Too bad.
32. Turn the radio on ~ Lulu Belle and Scotty
From the 1930's, an old time country duo who also did the original version of "I told lately that I love you". No video again.
33. Cool disk jockey ~ Boyd Bennett
A 1950's rockabilly best known for his hit "My boy flattop" does his radio tribute/ suck up. (See numbers 11, 12 and 33) With similar results. Did this sort of thing ever work? No video of course.
34. Don Williams ~ Listen to the radio
A gentle ballad to the radio by the laid back country crooner
35. Rockabilly on the radio ~ Jack Smith
Latter day tribute to a radio that no longer exists.
36. The Radio Stars ~ Radio Stars
A Britsh post punk group on Stiff Records sing a song about themselves. It doesn't become a hit. Too small of a target audience?
37. Radios in motion ~ XTC
One of the first and best loved of the British post punk bands follows up the roll they were on with their "This is pop" single.
38. Black stations white stations ~ Martha and the Muffins
In which the very white Canadians Martha and the Muffins get all funky and make a point about about segregation on radio at a time when MTV played almost no black music at all. Great video as well, wonder why MTV didn't like it.
39. Radio Ga Ga ~ Queen
The very idea of Queen mocking radio for being trivial is, well, trivial. But it it's at least not bombastic (by Queen standards) and even catchy. Bonus points for the video swiped from Fritz Lang.
40. Turn up the radio ~ Autograph
A radio anthem from a 1980's hair metal band? What could possibly go wrong. Actually it's better than it really needed to be.
Honorable mention;
The radio still sucks ~ The Ataris
Yes I know it's only 30 seconds long. I didn't even bother to look for video for this one.
Honorable mentions (instrumentals);
1. Radio 4 ~ Public Image Ltd.
2. Whatever happened to radio valve road ~ Martha and the Muffins
3. Time Zones ~ Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
Dishonorable mentions;
1. We built this city ~ Starship
Widely considered to be one of the worst songs EVER. And one of the worst videos as well so kudos Starship; you have clearly earned your mark in Rock and Roll history.
Showing posts with label Clash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clash. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Friday, 2 July 2010
NXNE Review 2010
So far I have been to every NXNE and CMW since the first ones and this year was certainly one of them. Actually I do think that they have put more effort into the lineup for NXNE this year both for bands and films, they also extended the schedule to cover both Wednesday and Sunday on either side of the weekend. To bad I didn't get my pass until the Thursday and so missed The Eagles of Death Metal and The Blue Van. Which means I kicked things off with....
Thursday June 17;
10pm ~ X ~ Dundas Square
Been looking forward to this even before I heard it was going to happen. X, with Billy Zoom, haven't played outside of L.A. since the 1980's so I've actually not seen them before. Damn if it wasn't a rock solid as you could have asked for. Dundas Square is not exactly the most intimate venue but the sound was decent all things considered. Billy always manages to look like he is the happiest person in the room while still looking like the coolest, which is harder than you think. And he played like a well oiled machine. Ditto for D.J. Bonebrake and John Doe. Xeane looked healthy too which was nice. The vocals were a little ragged of course but that was always one of their charms.
12am ~ Elliott Brood ~ The Horseshoe
I haven't seen them for awhile and it was kind of a sort set but they manage to make their goth-grass work as a foot stomping crowd pleaser. Their other stuff sounds more like Neil Young & Buffalo Springfield.
1am ~ The 222's ~ The Bovine
Another old school punk band reuniting for another kick at the can. This one's from Montreal and is a good example of basic pre-hardcore punk. Nothing special but solid.
2am ~ The Junction ~ The Horseshoe
Your basic indie guitar type band. It's OK but nothing that sticks in my mind five seconds after it's done.
3am ~ The Soft Pack ~ The Silver Dollar
One of the "surprise" TBA guests. The Pack, from San Diego, do a full on noisy guitar fest with driving bass lines and a whole lotta feedback. Cool. Worth seeing again. Friday June 18;
10:30pm (approx) ~ Flatfoot 56 ~ The Hard Luck Bar
OK not really part of NXNE but what the Hell. I had the choice between getting crammed into the show to see Mudhoney, Man or Astroman and the Poisoned Arrows or going to the Hard Luck for the Brains. I chose the Brains, hadn't heard the openers Flatfoot 56. They are a Dropkick Murphys type Celtic Punk band with a bagpiper and mandolin player. Unlike some other bands of this type, like umm... the Murphys, you can actually hear the mandolin and piper, and they are actually really good players,especially the mandolin. They did a cool cover of Screaching Weasel's "Cool Kids", with bagpipes yet!
12am (approx) ~ The Brains ~ The Hard Luck Bar ~
The best Psychobilly in Montreal (if not Canada) are back with a new cd. I've seen them plenty of times and they always pretty much do the same thing, but they do it really well. Actually there was one new thing, a version of "Rock this town" using the mandolin player from Flatfoot 56 that really should make it to the next Brains cd, and probably will.
2am ~ The Schomberg Fair ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
This country/goth combo were not as rootsy as their cd, but then again I only got to see a few songs.
3am ~ The Cheap Speakers ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
A solid somewhat 60's ish guitar rock trio worth further exploration.
Saturday June 19;
9:30pm ~ Iggy and The Stooges ~ Dundas Square ~
I figured that a free Stooges show (with the return of James Williamson, something we never thought would happen) would be insane, turns out it was worse than that. Dundas square was jam packed with every freak in the city including unfortunately the two groups I most hate to see at punk shows;
Exhibit a) The Drunken Frat Boy/Jock type who take any chance to do their Drunken Frat Boy/Jock mosh which basically the same as the thing that football players do before they head out to the field where they grab each other by the shoulders and bang their heads together, except now they get to do that to much smaller people who aren't wearing helmets cause it's "punk rock man!" To them I say; "Die you assholes! Go back and listen to those gangsta rap songs about date rape like you usually do. Fuck off already!"
Exhibit b) The Hard Core Squeegee Punks, some of them are ok and even funny enough, but then there's those ones with their "we're punker than you" attitude and their "we're too punk to bathe" look, all encased in black leather and spikes no matter how hot it is. Always shoving their way through the crowd and daring anyone to speak up and give them an excuse to beat somebody up. To them I say; "Die you assholes! Go hang out with the frat boys, you have more in common than you'd like to admit. Fuck off already!"
Anyway the crowd was so dense and packed that I and others around me had to take it on faith that that was in fact Iggy up there and not just a backing track since it was literally impossible to actually see anything at all. So much as I would have normally would have enjoyed touching base with all the folks I ran into that I haven't seen in ages I had to get out of that sweaty frustrating mass. So I wandered over to the side and climbed over a railing and behind the drinking area to get to stage left where some other folks had gotten the same idea. At last it was possible to see the band since they never moved from the front of Rock Action's drum kit the whole time. Occasionally Iggy himself would shimmy his way over as well and accept the accolades from the smaller crowd at the side. The first few times this happened some people who had all-access passes to be further up on stage left would all stand up and block our view, until some guys started chanting "Down in front! Down in front!" After a couple of times some of the pass holders heard this, turned around, and then actually sat down! To which I say;
"Cudos to you Sirs and Madams; You're a class act."
Did I mention that they did most if not all of raw power along with other stuff from the first two albums and the sound was, all things considered pretty good? Well it was. And that Iggy is still a sweaty, shirtless, toned, leathery, lizard king? Well he is. And the Stooges still kick ass.
11:30pm ~ Moneen ~
Who booked this mess? Who decided to put the Darlings of Chelsea on while the Stooges were playing elsewhere thus guaranteeing that none of their fans or friends would show? I'm surprised the band even showed up, I wouldn't if I were them. Then they put on Moneen, a dreadfully dull indie type band of the type that Sonic Unyon used to sign back in the day, to bore the fuck out of everybody. Actually that's not entirely true as they do have a fair number of sappy fans who immediately left as soon as Moneen did so they wouldn't be contaminated by the Zeros and their old school punk. Kids these days I swear.
12am ~ The Zeros ~ The El Mocambo
Thank you NXNE for putting The Zeros, Stark Naked & the Fleshtones, Drive Like Maria and Man or Astroman on AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME IN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FUCKING CLUBS! It wouldn't be NXNE with out some piece of randomly stupid booking. On top of which the Man or Astroman gig was one of their secret T.B.A. gigs which was announced via Twitter and gave out THE WRONG FUCKING TIME! Nice one. Anyway.. where was I? Oh right, the Zeros. They are yet another "legendary punk band of the 1980's", this time from L.A. where they were considered "The Mexican Ramones". Actually they had more in common with the Undertones or Teenage Head but what the Hell. They were still looking and sounding pretty well preserved too. This was actually their first gig in Canada ever and they are planning on coming back.
1am ~ The Gin Riots ~ The El Mocambo ~
This vaguely 1960's like Soft Boys type guitar band are getting some good press from England which is in short supply of such bands of late. They were ok but they really didn't belong on this bill though so I'm willing to give them another chance.
2am ~ Porcelin Forehead ~ The El Mocambo ~
And we have another "Legendary Punk band from the 1980's" this time from Ottawa which was not exactly a punk hot spot then or now. Although they were billed as a "hardcore band" and were apparently on a few hardcore comps back in the day (which I may or may not own), they are really a pretty straight up punk band. Not spectacular but solid enough.
2:20am ~ The Darcys ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
They sounded good from the street with a swirling psyche wall of sound, but the Rancho is a notorious sweatbox during the summer, especially when it's packed, which it was. So I got the Hell out of there. Sorry.
2:30am ~ Comanechi ~ The Silver Dollar ~
The hot new thing out of England is a two piece noise band with a cute Japanese girl drumming and yowling incoherently while her male guitarist partner grinds out two chord metal thrashes. He also had a hairdo that literally covered his entire face the entire time so that I actually couldn't tell if he was also Japanese or not until the end. Answer; No. It's energetic live but pretty much of a piece and we'll see if it has any staying power.
3am ~ The Winks ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
An art rock/performance art four piece from Montreal with an electric mandolin, stand up bass, cello and drums; no guitars please, we're art rockers. The girl singer also wore a lacy fairy costume. I only stuck around because I almost never get to hear an electric mandolin. Too band they don't have any songs to go with it.
3:20am ~ The Strange Boys ~ The Silver Dollar ~
Another solid roots rock band from Austin Texas, are there any other kind? I only saw a few songs, including a version of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a preacher man" which was pretty cool. Worth checking out again.
Sunday June 20;
10pm ~ Ali & The Dts ~ The El Mocambo
An Irish band that evokes the Commitments? That's too easy. Actually they're ok but I don't know if we really need a throwback to the pre-punk pub rock r&b of the 1970's. On the other hand we could do much worse and no doubt will. Much much worse.
11pm ~ The DGB ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
A three piece grunge band from Lindsay, Ontario where they apparently remember grunge. Does anybody here remember grunge? No? Oh well.
12am ~ The Archives ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
Another perfectly competent indie guitar band that I couldn't remember anything about once I got home. But I was pretty tired, otherwise I would have gone down to the Bovine for Sixxxer. However I did find one of their cds at the Stooges gig.
1am ~ Sleep For The Night Life ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
An all insturmental jam band that I was too bored to stick around for so I went home, NXNE over and out.
Films;
"You Left Me Blue; The Handsome Ned Story" ~
A loving documentary of the founder of the roots rock scene in Toronto in the 1980's until his death in 1987 before he had a chance to finish what would have been his debut album. He woulda been a contender damn it. There should be more footage when the home version comes out and it's worth seeing for anyone who loves the old Queen st. scene.Also has footage from the Handsone Ned Tribute show I helped put together and stage managed back in 2007 so there is an ever so brief glimpse of me stage left at one point, blink and you'll miss it.
"The Blank Generation" ~
Ivan Kral's ultra crude black and white document of the 1970's New York punk scene shot at the time, most of the major and several minor players are here filmed on stage with completely out of synch sound. However no Suicide though or Velvets which is too bad. It's not currently available but I actually have copy of this already and mentioned it to Ivan Kral (who was there), turns out there are a few bootleg copies floating around.
"X;The Unheard Music" ~
A straight forward "making of" doc originally done back in the 1980's the film makers were convinced that X were going to be the next big thing. They were wrong but because they thought so they did a thorough job so we have a good document about X unlike so many of their contemporaries.
"Search and Destroy; Iggy Pop and The Stooges Raw Power" ~
One of those "making of" docs that they make for VH1. Iggy and James Williamson are quite articulate and thoughtful and the talking head experts don't distract which is a bonus. Unfortunately they didn't get to interview the late Ron Asheton and David Bowie. Although Iggy does allow that the notoriously muddy mix of "Raw Power" wasn't Bowie's fault after all.
"Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread" ~
A documentary about Clash manager, film maker and DJ Don Letts who turns out to be a great interview. He's the guy on the cover of the first Clash album facing down the police, it turns out he was actually running to get out of the way but what the Hell.
"Visual Alan Audio Vega" ~
A mercifully short, out of focus, absurdly incoherent interview snippet with Suicide front man Alan Vega filtered through enough feed back and distortion to induce migraines. I know that Suicide used to do the same thing kinda but that was still annoying. On the other hand it did conjure up memories of Chris Twoomy's Industrial Video Roadshow.
Note I sadly missed "Circa 1977; The Diodes" part of which was actually shot on my radio show so I really should get around to that, and I also manged to miss out on Man or Astroman, Mudhoney and Drive Like Maria (twice each!) as well as the Poison Aeros and The Blue Van. I can't be everywhere you know.
Thursday June 17;
10pm ~ X ~ Dundas Square
Been looking forward to this even before I heard it was going to happen. X, with Billy Zoom, haven't played outside of L.A. since the 1980's so I've actually not seen them before. Damn if it wasn't a rock solid as you could have asked for. Dundas Square is not exactly the most intimate venue but the sound was decent all things considered. Billy always manages to look like he is the happiest person in the room while still looking like the coolest, which is harder than you think. And he played like a well oiled machine. Ditto for D.J. Bonebrake and John Doe. Xeane looked healthy too which was nice. The vocals were a little ragged of course but that was always one of their charms.
12am ~ Elliott Brood ~ The Horseshoe
I haven't seen them for awhile and it was kind of a sort set but they manage to make their goth-grass work as a foot stomping crowd pleaser. Their other stuff sounds more like Neil Young & Buffalo Springfield.
1am ~ The 222's ~ The Bovine
Another old school punk band reuniting for another kick at the can. This one's from Montreal and is a good example of basic pre-hardcore punk. Nothing special but solid.
2am ~ The Junction ~ The Horseshoe
Your basic indie guitar type band. It's OK but nothing that sticks in my mind five seconds after it's done.
3am ~ The Soft Pack ~ The Silver Dollar
One of the "surprise" TBA guests. The Pack, from San Diego, do a full on noisy guitar fest with driving bass lines and a whole lotta feedback. Cool. Worth seeing again. Friday June 18;
10:30pm (approx) ~ Flatfoot 56 ~ The Hard Luck Bar
OK not really part of NXNE but what the Hell. I had the choice between getting crammed into the show to see Mudhoney, Man or Astroman and the Poisoned Arrows or going to the Hard Luck for the Brains. I chose the Brains, hadn't heard the openers Flatfoot 56. They are a Dropkick Murphys type Celtic Punk band with a bagpiper and mandolin player. Unlike some other bands of this type, like umm... the Murphys, you can actually hear the mandolin and piper, and they are actually really good players,especially the mandolin. They did a cool cover of Screaching Weasel's "Cool Kids", with bagpipes yet!
12am (approx) ~ The Brains ~ The Hard Luck Bar ~
The best Psychobilly in Montreal (if not Canada) are back with a new cd. I've seen them plenty of times and they always pretty much do the same thing, but they do it really well. Actually there was one new thing, a version of "Rock this town" using the mandolin player from Flatfoot 56 that really should make it to the next Brains cd, and probably will.
2am ~ The Schomberg Fair ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
This country/goth combo were not as rootsy as their cd, but then again I only got to see a few songs.
3am ~ The Cheap Speakers ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
A solid somewhat 60's ish guitar rock trio worth further exploration.
Saturday June 19;
9:30pm ~ Iggy and The Stooges ~ Dundas Square ~
I figured that a free Stooges show (with the return of James Williamson, something we never thought would happen) would be insane, turns out it was worse than that. Dundas square was jam packed with every freak in the city including unfortunately the two groups I most hate to see at punk shows;
Exhibit a) The Drunken Frat Boy/Jock type who take any chance to do their Drunken Frat Boy/Jock mosh which basically the same as the thing that football players do before they head out to the field where they grab each other by the shoulders and bang their heads together, except now they get to do that to much smaller people who aren't wearing helmets cause it's "punk rock man!" To them I say; "Die you assholes! Go back and listen to those gangsta rap songs about date rape like you usually do. Fuck off already!"
Exhibit b) The Hard Core Squeegee Punks, some of them are ok and even funny enough, but then there's those ones with their "we're punker than you" attitude and their "we're too punk to bathe" look, all encased in black leather and spikes no matter how hot it is. Always shoving their way through the crowd and daring anyone to speak up and give them an excuse to beat somebody up. To them I say; "Die you assholes! Go hang out with the frat boys, you have more in common than you'd like to admit. Fuck off already!"
Anyway the crowd was so dense and packed that I and others around me had to take it on faith that that was in fact Iggy up there and not just a backing track since it was literally impossible to actually see anything at all. So much as I would have normally would have enjoyed touching base with all the folks I ran into that I haven't seen in ages I had to get out of that sweaty frustrating mass. So I wandered over to the side and climbed over a railing and behind the drinking area to get to stage left where some other folks had gotten the same idea. At last it was possible to see the band since they never moved from the front of Rock Action's drum kit the whole time. Occasionally Iggy himself would shimmy his way over as well and accept the accolades from the smaller crowd at the side. The first few times this happened some people who had all-access passes to be further up on stage left would all stand up and block our view, until some guys started chanting "Down in front! Down in front!" After a couple of times some of the pass holders heard this, turned around, and then actually sat down! To which I say;
"Cudos to you Sirs and Madams; You're a class act."
Did I mention that they did most if not all of raw power along with other stuff from the first two albums and the sound was, all things considered pretty good? Well it was. And that Iggy is still a sweaty, shirtless, toned, leathery, lizard king? Well he is. And the Stooges still kick ass.
11:30pm ~ Moneen ~
Who booked this mess? Who decided to put the Darlings of Chelsea on while the Stooges were playing elsewhere thus guaranteeing that none of their fans or friends would show? I'm surprised the band even showed up, I wouldn't if I were them. Then they put on Moneen, a dreadfully dull indie type band of the type that Sonic Unyon used to sign back in the day, to bore the fuck out of everybody. Actually that's not entirely true as they do have a fair number of sappy fans who immediately left as soon as Moneen did so they wouldn't be contaminated by the Zeros and their old school punk. Kids these days I swear.
12am ~ The Zeros ~ The El Mocambo
Thank you NXNE for putting The Zeros, Stark Naked & the Fleshtones, Drive Like Maria and Man or Astroman on AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME IN COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FUCKING CLUBS! It wouldn't be NXNE with out some piece of randomly stupid booking. On top of which the Man or Astroman gig was one of their secret T.B.A. gigs which was announced via Twitter and gave out THE WRONG FUCKING TIME! Nice one. Anyway.. where was I? Oh right, the Zeros. They are yet another "legendary punk band of the 1980's", this time from L.A. where they were considered "The Mexican Ramones". Actually they had more in common with the Undertones or Teenage Head but what the Hell. They were still looking and sounding pretty well preserved too. This was actually their first gig in Canada ever and they are planning on coming back.
1am ~ The Gin Riots ~ The El Mocambo ~
This vaguely 1960's like Soft Boys type guitar band are getting some good press from England which is in short supply of such bands of late. They were ok but they really didn't belong on this bill though so I'm willing to give them another chance.
2am ~ Porcelin Forehead ~ The El Mocambo ~
And we have another "Legendary Punk band from the 1980's" this time from Ottawa which was not exactly a punk hot spot then or now. Although they were billed as a "hardcore band" and were apparently on a few hardcore comps back in the day (which I may or may not own), they are really a pretty straight up punk band. Not spectacular but solid enough.
2:20am ~ The Darcys ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
They sounded good from the street with a swirling psyche wall of sound, but the Rancho is a notorious sweatbox during the summer, especially when it's packed, which it was. So I got the Hell out of there. Sorry.
2:30am ~ Comanechi ~ The Silver Dollar ~
The hot new thing out of England is a two piece noise band with a cute Japanese girl drumming and yowling incoherently while her male guitarist partner grinds out two chord metal thrashes. He also had a hairdo that literally covered his entire face the entire time so that I actually couldn't tell if he was also Japanese or not until the end. Answer; No. It's energetic live but pretty much of a piece and we'll see if it has any staying power.
3am ~ The Winks ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
An art rock/performance art four piece from Montreal with an electric mandolin, stand up bass, cello and drums; no guitars please, we're art rockers. The girl singer also wore a lacy fairy costume. I only stuck around because I almost never get to hear an electric mandolin. Too band they don't have any songs to go with it.
3:20am ~ The Strange Boys ~ The Silver Dollar ~
Another solid roots rock band from Austin Texas, are there any other kind? I only saw a few songs, including a version of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a preacher man" which was pretty cool. Worth checking out again.
Sunday June 20;
10pm ~ Ali & The Dts ~ The El Mocambo
An Irish band that evokes the Commitments? That's too easy. Actually they're ok but I don't know if we really need a throwback to the pre-punk pub rock r&b of the 1970's. On the other hand we could do much worse and no doubt will. Much much worse.
11pm ~ The DGB ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
A three piece grunge band from Lindsay, Ontario where they apparently remember grunge. Does anybody here remember grunge? No? Oh well.
12am ~ The Archives ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
Another perfectly competent indie guitar band that I couldn't remember anything about once I got home. But I was pretty tired, otherwise I would have gone down to the Bovine for Sixxxer. However I did find one of their cds at the Stooges gig.
1am ~ Sleep For The Night Life ~ Rancho Relaxo ~
An all insturmental jam band that I was too bored to stick around for so I went home, NXNE over and out.
Films;
"You Left Me Blue; The Handsome Ned Story" ~
A loving documentary of the founder of the roots rock scene in Toronto in the 1980's until his death in 1987 before he had a chance to finish what would have been his debut album. He woulda been a contender damn it. There should be more footage when the home version comes out and it's worth seeing for anyone who loves the old Queen st. scene.Also has footage from the Handsone Ned Tribute show I helped put together and stage managed back in 2007 so there is an ever so brief glimpse of me stage left at one point, blink and you'll miss it.
"The Blank Generation" ~
Ivan Kral's ultra crude black and white document of the 1970's New York punk scene shot at the time, most of the major and several minor players are here filmed on stage with completely out of synch sound. However no Suicide though or Velvets which is too bad. It's not currently available but I actually have copy of this already and mentioned it to Ivan Kral (who was there), turns out there are a few bootleg copies floating around.
"X;The Unheard Music" ~
A straight forward "making of" doc originally done back in the 1980's the film makers were convinced that X were going to be the next big thing. They were wrong but because they thought so they did a thorough job so we have a good document about X unlike so many of their contemporaries.
"Search and Destroy; Iggy Pop and The Stooges Raw Power" ~
One of those "making of" docs that they make for VH1. Iggy and James Williamson are quite articulate and thoughtful and the talking head experts don't distract which is a bonus. Unfortunately they didn't get to interview the late Ron Asheton and David Bowie. Although Iggy does allow that the notoriously muddy mix of "Raw Power" wasn't Bowie's fault after all.
"Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread" ~
A documentary about Clash manager, film maker and DJ Don Letts who turns out to be a great interview. He's the guy on the cover of the first Clash album facing down the police, it turns out he was actually running to get out of the way but what the Hell.
"Visual Alan Audio Vega" ~
A mercifully short, out of focus, absurdly incoherent interview snippet with Suicide front man Alan Vega filtered through enough feed back and distortion to induce migraines. I know that Suicide used to do the same thing kinda but that was still annoying. On the other hand it did conjure up memories of Chris Twoomy's Industrial Video Roadshow.
Note I sadly missed "Circa 1977; The Diodes" part of which was actually shot on my radio show so I really should get around to that, and I also manged to miss out on Man or Astroman, Mudhoney and Drive Like Maria (twice each!) as well as the Poison Aeros and The Blue Van. I can't be everywhere you know.
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