More Rollins action

After I got finished reading Rollins' latest book, "Broken Summers," I wanted more.

So, I picked up "Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three."

The 2002 release features the Rollins Band mowing through 24 killer Black Flag tunes with surprising precision and plenty of velocity.

Henry sings on quite a few tracks, but the real attractions are the guest singers who Rollins lined up for this benefit CD.

Here are some of my favorites:

MP3: Keith Morris - "Nervous Breakdown" - The former Black Flag singer and Circle Jerks lead man has one of the most recognizable voices in punk rock. He's one of my fave singers of all time. As Rollins repeatedly points out in "Broken Summers," Keith Morris still has it. (Note: Click through link)

MP3: Ice T - "Police Story" - I really loved Ice T's collaboration with Slayer on the song "Disorder," and his take on this killer Flag song is almost as good. Don't know anything about his rap records, but he's got some venom in his voice on this track. (Note: Click through link)

MP3: Hank III - "No Values" - Another musician that I'm ashamed to say that I know little about other than Duane Dennison played with Hank III for a while. He rips it up on this early Black Flag fave. (Note: Click through link)

When you buy this CD you will be supporting funding for DNA testing for the West Memphis 3 and their cause.

Link: West Memphis 3 official site

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Lettuce Prey phones it in

Listen to one of my favorite songwriters, Lettuce Prey (AKA Mike Lenert), as he performs live on "Phoning it In" on BSR 88.1 FM.

Hosted by Nadav Carmel, "Phoning it In" features exclusive on-air performances conducted over the phone.

Past performers include The Microphones, Jolie Holland and The Mountain Goats.

Link: Phoning it In, BSR 88.1 FM

What's new in the music world?

I've been listening to a lot of good stuff lately.

Here is just a sample of some of it.

Esthero - We R In Need of a Musical Revolution EP - It's been almost seven years since Esthero's last album, "Breath From Another." She's one of the few females that does that whole trip hop thing that I can stomach. Actually Esthero is much more than trip hop - she hints at tropicalia, Hindi and world music on this recently released EP, which is a teaser for her album due later this year.

MP3: Esthero - "We R In Need of a Musical Revolution"
(click through link for MP3)


Prototypes - Tout le Monde Cherche Quelque Chose - Heard this French band play live last year on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic and was blown away by their elementary brand of Blonde Redhead-styled rock. Live they have a punk snarl but surprisingly, their studio record is much more electronic-based, but still quite a good listen. The intro to "Danse Sur La Merde" reminds me of Elastica for some reason.

MP3: Prototypes - "Danse Sur La Merde" (click through link for MP3)


The Ruts - The Crack/Grin and Bear It - Rollins spoke about this band several times in "Broken Summers" and in my recent quest to listen to '70s punk bands I've overlooked (Eater, Damned), I checked this out. The Ruts only did one proper studio album ("The Crack") then an odds and sods comp of singles, outtakes and live recordings followed. The music is sharp and biting punk and although the band insists on incorporating reggae into their music, they do so in a tasteful manner.

MP3: The Ruts - Something That I Said (click through link for MP3)
MP3: The Ruts - Staring at the Rude Boys (click through link for MP3)

Things have changed

I never thought I would be getting paid at a professional job to write about 'American Idol.'

If you care about such things, you can read my recap of how the boys did and how the girls fared.

You can also read an American Idol blog written by yours truly.

Henry Rollins - Broken Summers

Just got finished reading Rollins' book, "Broken Summers," that came out last year. Really fuggen intense and awesome.

It's one of his best works by far because after 20 years of poetry, journals and internal psychic warfare, Rollins lays down all pretenses and speaks in a natural and direct voice.

Now in his early 40s, Rollins seems to have found a comfortable place for himself as a writer. While he occasionally goes off on tirades, his arguments against Amerikan culture and excess and the idiocy of the state of the world are right on the money and well presented.

The book begins at the end of a spoken word tour in 2002 and segues into some downtime where Rollins recalls his days in DC, offers perspectives on the music industry and gives readers a rare glimpse into his personal life, or lack thereof.

From there we quickly follow Rollins as he brainstorms, then executes a tribute album to raise money for DNA testing for the West Memphis 3. Whether one is pro-, con- or ignorant of the WM3 and their case, is irrelevant. The story of the making of "Rise Above: 24 Black Flag songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three" is a compelling read no matter where you land on the spectrum of how innocent or guilty the people involved are.

It's Rollins raison d'etre and fierce D.I.Y. spirit that fuels the project which evolved into an album featuring the Rollins Bands with various singers performing the music of Black Flag.

The remainder of the book chronicles the subsequent tour behind the album and is a nostalgic look back on the impact of Black Flag's music interspersed with Rollins' encounters with friends and idiot drunken fans on the road.

It closes out with Rollins back at home, discussing the disastrous Black Flag reunions shows and pondering the future while waiting for his next tour to begin.

Free the West Memphis Three
Henry Rollins official site

Busy beyond belief

I hate when people say, "Oh, I'm so busy," but in my case, it's true.

I just finished up a freelance article for For the Record magazine on cancer registries.

I'm still covering the Michael Jackson Trial for work.

Recently I started covering American Idol.

I watched my first two episodes of AI ever this week. You can read what I thought about the boy finalists and the girl finalists.

And for the third year in a row, I'm an official ballot counter for Delaware Today's Best of Delaware issue.

Impressive stuff, I know.

Stuff that's in my to-be-reviewed pile: The Mice, Ill Ease.

Been listening to: The Damned, The Ruts, Eater, The Quick, Ambulance Ltd., High on Fire, Bloc Party.

I'm reading "Broken Summers" by Henry Rollins. It's his best writing yet. Book report soon.

Murder Can Be Fun #19: Musical Mayhem

There hasn't been a new issue of MCBF for some time, but that's OK because this issue picks up where issue #18, Sports Thrills, left off. The latest issue of this acclaimed zine focuses on the macabe side of music and chronicles murderous musician Spade Cooley and other morose musicians who embraced the darkside.

Over half the zine is devoted to the western swing and country fiddler, Spade Cooley, who beat the living hell out of his wife. In fact, he stomped her to death - in front of their daughter, no less.

The history of Cooley's musical career is chronicled in painstaking detail including how the one-time Roy Rogers protege became one of country's biggest stars in the '40s, only to fall from the public eye and become the type of desperate and angry son of a bitch who eventually would off his wife. Fortunately, justice prevailed and Cooley was found guilty of killing his wife in a trial full of his outrageous claims.

This issue is worth it alone for this insane story of a honky tonk hellboy gone completely bonkers, but let me tell you, there's even more!

You get the story behind The Band's keyboardist Richard Manuel, and how he killed himself one night after a reunion concert and some lesser-known rock and roll deaths including a fan passing at a David Cassidy concert.

This latest issue of Murder Can Be Fun is another job well done, and John Marr is one of the underground zine's best editors from the '90s who hasn't lost his touch.

You can obtain this issue of Murder Can Be Fun for $2.00 ppd in the USA (other countries add $2.00 for postage.) Just drop a line to John Marr, P.O. Box 640111, San Francisco, CA 94164, USA.

Link: Buy MCBF #19 from Quimby's
Link: murdercanbefun.com
Link: zinebook.com: Interview with MCBF's John Marr

McG's playlist for February 6, 2005

Here's what I've been listening to lately as well as what I've been reading and watching. (NOTE: Click-through for MP3s.)

Heard lately:

Confessor - Blueprint Soul EP - Much more subdued than their "Condemned" album, but rockin' nonetheless. Still, I'm glad they've reformed after a decade plus hiatus, and the vocals aren't as annoying this time around.
MP3: Confessor - "Sour Times"

The Pretty Things - Come See Me: The Very Best of - Nice collection of the Pretty Things early output from straight up mod to offbeat psychedelia.
MP3: The Pretty Things - "Mr. Evasion"

Camper Van Beethoven - New Roman Times - CVB reunites and recaptures the original magic and uses it to create a kickass record that captures the old vibe, but still sounds forward thinking.
MP3: Camper Van Beethoven - "51-7"

Howard Stern - Listening to Howie for two hours a day in the car during my commute makes the drive tolerable.

Songs I heard on Sirius that I thought were catchy:

Tegan and Sara - Walking With a Ghost - Just a great song to hear on the radio. Kind of repetitive, but still charming. Didn't like the album that much, but this song rocks.
MP3: Tegan and Sara - "Walking With a Ghost"

Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes - Very nice song from the new RK album, which I still haven't heard. I can't tell if I like this group or not. Well, I like this song for sure.
MP3: Rilo Kiley - "Portions for Foxes"

Jet - Look What You've Done - Very Lennon circa Plastic Ono Band with a touch of Oasis, so you know it's fan-friggin-tastic. Hated the first single from this album, but maybe I should give the whole record a chance?!
MP3: Jet - "Look What You've Done"

Read recently:

Murder Can Be Fun #19: Musical Mayhem - Out of nowhere comes a brand new issue of MCBF! Holy hell. Lots of painstaking detail about morbid and morose deaths from the world of music.

Henry Rollins - Broken Summers - An account of the tour and record Hank assembled to benefit the West Memphis Three and what it was like singing all those Flag classics after all those years.

Razorcake #24 - Came in the mail today. From some of the folks who did Flipside. I'm proud to say I have a subscription.

I saw these:

Huff - Another killer great premium cable show. On the same level of quality as "Dead Like Me." Hank Azaria is great as a stressed out psychiatrist and Paget Brewster is charming as his equally stressed out wife.

Riding Giants - Stacy Perralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys) takes a look at the origins of surfing, from primitive Hawaiian wave riders all the way up to the crazy nutso daredevils of today.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon - Read one more than review ragging this film. What for? Sean Penn carries this entire film about one man who feels like life is just one big sick hypocritical mess of chaos, cash and corruption. The solution? Fly a plane into the White House. Weird, but based on real events.

Sideways - Yes, it's as good as everyone says. Funny, dark, twisted and depressing, but still a good road trip movie about the usual stuff: booze, fighting, sex and figuring out one's role in the cosmos.

John Peel listening post

The JPLP is permanently offline.