Album Review- Phil Selway

A favorite recent “obscure” album is 2010s Familial, the debut record. by Philip Selway. Weird in some ways because of the MadLibs nature of it - in this case the (drummer) of (Radiohead). Weird in that Familial is for lack of a better term- an indie folk record I’m not one to make fun of appearances, but Selway surely looks like he would belong in a prog or classic metal band, but this instead is in full Nick Drake and Badly Drawn Boy territory. Selway was part of the Neil Finn fronted indie supergroup Seven Worlds Collide, and Familial contains a similar cast or talented (and unexpected personnel including Lisa Germano, Sebastian Stienberg of Soul Coughing and most of Wilco. In 2014, Selway recorded the follow up Weatherhouse. Here, Selway took his folk sound a bit closer to the Radiohead template to create a fine (if forgettable) second album. 2023s Strange Dance is somewhere in between. It isn’t quite as delicate as Familial and it probably isn’t completely accurate to say it splits the difference between that album and Weatherhouse, but I can’t think of a better way to describe it Selway brings in Adrian Utley of Portishead, Hannah Peel and producer Marta Salogni (who worked on the new Depeche Mode album and a whole list of others - Black MIDI, Goldfrapp, David Byrne, Tracey Thorn, Groove Armada) alongside multi instrumentalist Quinta from the previous album. It captures some of the intimacy of Familal that way without being "bare". I think it’s a nice addition to Selway’s catalog and one of my favorite releases of early 2023. I don’t expect everyone to have the same reaction but I do think it deserves to be heard.

Album Review- Clean Cut Kid

Just bubbling under my Best Albums of 2022 was HISS, the fourth album by Liverpool four piece Clean Cut Kid. I’m never great at describing bands, but looking at Wikipedia, they do fit with the mid-200xs bands that preceded them by a decade like the Fratellis, the Kooks and the Courteeners. Incidentally, I can’t seem to find many reviews of HISS that doesn’t mention one of my favorite artists, Passenger. I don’t really think of Passenger when listening to them though I do occasionally hear a similar song structure, like on opener "Our Wasted Hours". The band definitely follows a thread of Sgt Pepper style pop that has been filtered through the 70s Cat Stevens style songwriter sound. So there is that thread they share with Passenger and I suppose maybe someone like Bon Iver (who is probably the second most referenced band in album reviews). Songs on HISS feel very recognizable. There are moments where they go too whimsical for me but generally that’s the exception.

Album Review: Meditations on Crime

Harper Simon is one of my favorite musicians. Certainly one of my favorite underrated musicians Being Paul Simon’s son is kind of a blessing and a curse. He gets lumped in the child of musician crowd with Rufus Wainwright, Adam Cohen, Teddy Thompson and so on, but he’s never seemed to get the attention I thought he deserved. He has to date, released two worthwhile albums in 2010 and 2013 and yes, that’s been awhile so I was excited to see new music from him. And a bit perplexed You see Harper’s latest album isn’t what you’d expect. It’s part of a project that includes a book called Meditations on Crime The soundtrack is helmed by Simon and fellow musician Julia Holter and the obligatory “cast of thousands”. There are a few points I want to make about this group of guests. First, they are largely a group that you would not associate with Simon or at least his style of music. Second, there’s a surprising coincidence of many of my favorite musicians appearing here (despite as I said, not sounding like Simon). Third and last, it also seems like an assembly of musicians that must have been pulled from some “Random Artist Generator” insomuch this grouping covers such a wide range of musical territory. Joining Simon and Holter here are Cole Alexander (Black Lips) Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux/Pussy Galore), King Khan, Geologist (Animal Collective), Gang Gang Dance, Ariel Pink, Ian Svenouis (The Make Up/Nation of Ulysses), Paz Lenchantin(Pixies/A Perfect Circle/Zwan), and the Sun Ra Arkestra. The bigger project brings in everyone from Laurie Anderson and Wayne Kramer to Kenneth Anger to Raymond Pettibon to the late Hal Willner As an album, “Meditations on Crime” may appeal to some who are looking for audio noir- jazzy, experimental, ambient. It definitely falls in the “mileage may vary” category. It may become a favorite cult album for you or maybe one listening will be enough, and even though I am generally impressed with the concept, am not sure that I will come back to it that often. It will be one of the last products Willner produced (and fits in perfectly with his best known work like Stay Awake, Rogues Gallery and September Songs) and one of the last works of Danny Ray Thompson, the saxophonist who was a mainstay (and manager) of the Sun Ra Arkestra. 2022 - AntiFragile Music

Concert Review- Rev Horton Heat

The answer to the question of which musical artist have seen the most time in concerts (and even then it is a relatively small number) is the Reverend Horton Heat. Horton Heat’s discography is dominated by his first two records released on SubPop in 1990 and 1993. Considering non-fans might see Heat as a gimmick, there are a lot of memorable moments in the 30+ years career comparable to say the Cramps, in that Heat could often find a way to make a new album sound fresh. Des Moines, Iowa post pandemic has went from five small music venues (and two medium and one large) to three small music venues, and Rev Horton Heat played at the “punk” one near Drake University (upcoming shows include DRI and the Cro Mags). He did have a great crowd and I admit there was a good atmosphere for him here It has been 20 years since I have been to that venue and close to 25 since seeing the Rev. This has been the fourth time I have seen him. Two things stand out, one being the opening bands were always slightly better than normal fare (BR549, Amazing Royal Crowns, Voodoo Glow Souls) The other being, the Reverend effortlessly making these amazing sounds from his guitar with seemingly no effort (and of course Jimbo’s stand up bass). I never saw Dick Dale but I suspect he did the same. But as much as I remembered him putting an entertaining show, this concert was really top tier. I know he’s a true road warrior. He had great rapport with the crowd, and thought I am sure some was well rehearsed, he also was adaptable to being spontaneous to the audience. For example, Heat telling the blast he had meeting Carl Perkins or how much the hip “lounge movement of 1998” (the fans, not the bands) hated them but it was ironic since they had recorded “It’s Martini Time” in 1996. Heat is now 63 but as he always adapted the image of an old rockabilly star, it has always felt like he has been 60. Heat’s releases had always been major events but I think the last time I had the Reverend on my radar was 2014’s appropriately titled REV as he changed over from Yep Roc to the hardcore punk label Victory Records. REV was probably the most well regarded Heat album since 2000s Spend A Night in the Box So I either missed or had forgotten 2018s Whole New Life- an album that added a keyboard player making the band a quartet and thus adding Jerry Lee Lewis and Professor Longhair motifs to the band The band is back as a trio with Jonathan Jeter now as the drummer. Jeter also fronts his own band Jonathan Jeter and the Revelators. Heat has a new album -a tribute to his roots named surely enough Roots of the Rev volume one- -a mix of inspirations and friends like Perkins, Ronnie Dawson and Willie Nelson and mixes a few well known rockabilly tunes with a few more obscure ones. One would suspect Heat wouldn’t like streaming but he did mention his most successful song financially was “In Your Wildest Dreams” which had been used in move and televison and was getting royalties for him and co-writer Jimbo. Off of 94s “Liquor in the Front” album, it must have jumpfrogged some of the MTV hits he had earlier. Opener was Scott H Biram. I knew the name but not anything about him. He calls himself the “Dirty One Man Band”. He is as described- making his first big steps into stardom with that movement of the early 00s. His songs have been covered in record by Nashville Pussy, Hank Williams 3 and Whitey Morgan and he has played with Jesse Dayton and Shooter Jennings. His style is hard to describe but fits those mentioned above- usually a metal fan’s image of an old blues belter and guitarist (think Muddy Waters or Mississippi Fred McDowell). He would slide from Nashville Pussy style sleazeball southern hard rock to ZZTop style blues to punk Americana like Dayton to n-th generation Tom Waits (he also gives by the Reverend Scott H Biram) Biram gives a heck of a performance. He’s like some crude, profane, Wild one man band from some imaginary smoky bar in the middle of nowhere More than anyone, his music reminds me of Bob Log III, the outsider blues punk one man band contemporary. Biram isn’t my normal cup of tea but I am glad I got to see him. Local support was Loose Gravel (a Des Moines band not to be confused with a Minnesota Classic Country or Classic Rock New York State band). They played that modern outlaw country sound that is defined by Skynyrd, AC/DC and the Drive By Truckers and were very good.

Raised on Radio- George Benson

I think the music of my youth is the best ever. For a second, I will pretend that everyone doesn’t also think the music of their youth is the all time best. I will also pretend that any given time, there isn’t an active scene for every genre if you look for it. The transition from the 70s to the 80s really felt like a true blending of cultures. Perhaps it took disco dying and those bands reinventing themselves into rock. Perhaps it was videos replacing the radio. In any case, there’s no bigger artist that brought music from the 1970s to the 1980s than Kool and the Gang. Just kidding, of course. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I doubt you would take me seriously if I gave any other answer to that question but Michael Jackson. Still, Kool and the Gang’s 1984 album Emergency is really that moment for me where Rock and R&B combine. There were others of course, Cameo, Gap Band, the Dazz Band, Chaka Khan and Rufus and of course, plenty more that I wouldn’t hear until many years later like Zapp, George Duke, the Brothers Johnson Bootsy’s Rubber Band, and others that weren’t being played on my particular radio channels. Also, there were the guitar and jazz fusion bands like Weather Report and Spyro Gyra, which again would not have been on my radar but were making some noise. I did hear jazz voices like Lou Rawls and Al Jarreau on the radio, and Stanley Clarke even had a Top 40 radio hit Which brings me to this post. George Benson is probably best known for being one of the greatest jazz guitarists on the planet. There are plenty of places to read his story, but for the purpose of the story of what I am going to tell, I am focusing on 1976 to 1984 where Benson put 14 songs on the Billboard Top 100. Breezin’ from the 1976 album of the same name is a song I can’t really discuss reasonably. It is a light jazz song that likely is one that I have heard on the radio just about as much as any. I know there’s a crowd for that but it’s not me. But Benson in the early 80s, now we are talking. “Give me the Night” popped up recently on television (in a show or ad, I forget) and I get it, it’s timeless. I remember it was a favorite song of mine at the time and it still stands up. It is sort of a summary of his long career- it’s jazz, funk, pop, soul, disco and rock. Probably no shock that Quincy Jones was the producer. I will throw in “Turn Your Love Around” as a little bit more jazzy but still great all around all time song. Again you have an all star cast with Bill Champlin, Steve Lukather and producer Jay Graydon. My memory gets fuzzy and nostalgic radio isn’t kind to artists but 1983’s “Let Me Love You One More Time” was another big hit that I recognized as soon as I hit play. You also got some members of Toto helping out (Howard and Paitch this time). No telling if there’s more Benson #raisedonradio radio staples that I have forgotten in the ensuing 40 years.

Raised on Radio- Gino Vanelli

I try to write about the forgotten radio heroes of my youth and I think Gino Vanelli fits that bill. A huge star in Canada, I feel he’s lesser known in the US But he had a run of hits in the pre-MTV 70s. If I think of the songs of the youth, one on the list is 1978’s “I Just Wanna Stop” a soft rock song that went to #4. 1981s “Living Inside Myself” is slightly further down the list. It was still a hit of the time and went to #5 But where I really got my ears to listen was his 80s Songs. There’s 1984s Black Cars. It didn’t make it any higher than 42 on the US charts but was the kind of perfect song to sneak in on the CHR/Hot Hots stations that were popular in the era The Gino Vanelli here doesn’t sound like the Gino Vanelli I knew. Like everyone, he was making a move to change with the times and his 70s and 80s hits are as far away stylistically as “Running on Empty” is to “Lawyers in Love” or “Captain Jack” is to “Uptown Girl”. Black Cars feel like if a Chat GPS wrote an eighties song with its great keyboard hook and of course cars and night in the lyrics. I remember 1987s Wild Horses being a bigger hit though Wikipedia says it stalled even lower (55) on the US charts. You may be a fan or not, but for me, I find these artists who sort of filled in the cracks of the charts with the Michael Jacksons, Princes, and Madonnas. I love looking at their careers and sharing what I learned. I remember the excitement of listening to these songs in my youth. #raisedonradio

Raised on Radio- Elton John

Here’s something you’re not going to like. I know Elton John’s 70s albums are among the most critically acclaimed of all time. I am not a huge fan. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate Elton John. He’s certainly nailed it on a few songs. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is as good as anything anyone has ever done. “Rocket Man” of course. I suspect if I would ever go back to the first time I heard “Bennie and the Jets”, I’d be impressed. But I grew up #raisedonradio with Elton in the 80s. These are the years you’re not supposed to like. I think that last sentence is supposed to apply to about every class of artist whether it’s Bowie, Dylan, Queen, Alice Cooper, Paul McCartney, the Stones, the Who or Billy Joel. But Elton had some fantastic singles in the 80s and 90s too. 1986s Leather Jackets album is considered a career nadir- an all time worst album. But something like 24 Top 40 hits on in the Eighties, well it’s kind of a blip. Which brings me to “I’m Still Standing”. If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have given you an impassioned speech about how it is typical of his 80s style, and individually is as good of a song as he ever performed Now, of course, I need not do that. It’s been featured in the movie Sing and Rocket Man and it is even one of my kid’s’ favorite songs. I don’t think it requires my approval any more to be reappraised In any case, I am posting Elton today and I am going to flip to one of the lesser known singles. This song went to 16 (“I’m Still Standing only went to 12, which kind of shows where he was in the 80s after his string of earlier Top 10 Hits). The third single from 1984s Breaking Hearts (best known for “Sad Songs Say So Much”) does not seem as ambitious as say “Nikita” or the John Lennon tribute “Empty Garden”. Not that the lyrics aren’t great, but self-reflection gives away to glam rock style stomp. It’s a tough rocker but everyone became tough rockers in the eighties (Michael Jackson to Billy Joel to Kenny Loggins to Hall &Oates to Springsteen to many of those I named above and perhaps the oddest one -Barry Manilow on 1982s Here Comes the Night). But hey I think it’s pretty great, so here it is

Raised on Radio- Matthew Wilder

 Matthew Wilder may be a one hit wonder but he somehow has never fell out of consciousness. His song “Break My Stride” now revived through TikTok. His Top of the Pops performance also goes viral for highlighting pop’s most unlikely looking star. Comments on YouTube compare him to everyone from Richard Simmons to Super Mario to the character Sammy in the Wedding Singer.

It is a weird song. Almost corny in its positivity. I loved it as a kid. As an adult, I have vacillated from love to hate and back depending on the day. I can think of very few songs that match it in terms of sheer optimism (Fitz and the Tantrums “The Walker” comes to mind. Also about walking. Not sure that’s a coincidence) and I’m not sure any top it.

His career is a weird path but quite accomplished. He produced Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus albums and wrote the music for the Disney movie Mulan, but also was the producer for No Doubt’s breakthrough Tragic Kingdom album.

When Matthew Wilder came up in conversation on a Facebook group (see he is still ubiquitous) someone listed him as a true one hit wonder. Here’s the thing, I was a huge Top 40 kid #raisedonradio and I remember the second hit.

The Kids American is a bit different vibe. It almost has to be. It was released in 1983 and fits into those 80s Reagan/LA Olympics era patriotic songs of the decade.

I didn’t think the bill I would pick to die on is Matthew Wilder wasn’t a one hit wonder but here we are.

Old and in the Way: It's the 2023 Iowa State Fair Free Stage review time again

Every year, I take some time to write about the music at the Iowa State Fair. 

It is a running joke, of course that a band is on the upside or the downslide of their career, and it is usually the latter.

I don’t focus on the main acts. Those bands that are still big draws, if only to an aging crowd- and this years list covers all bases - The Chicks, Jason Aldean, The Black Keys, NKoTB, and Ludacris to name a handful. 

No the bands on the Free Stage that are a “Where are they now” grouping and should be saluted for sticking it out. 

Often, these are bands that still get rave reviews from fans for their live performance, though I occasionally hear the opposite (I am looking at you Kix) 

In any case, this year brings a lot of return engagements. So a lot of bands that I have written about before. Still not going to stop me 

Junior Marvin and the Legendary Wailers- I know: The Wailers are legendary. I have also seen the name advertised for gigs for years and I always give some pause. You see Bob Marley (and Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston) have all passed. It hardly seems that the Wailers are still the product advertised 

I learned: But if we are being honest, I think everyone knows Bob Marley is dead. With any aged group, it is still exciting to hear the lineage. Now, this is where it is confusing. I think Marvin’s band is somewhat different than the one that constantly toured in the 90s. I think they exist too but that group was headed by the legendary bassist Aston Barrett and now led by his son (Marvin played with them for a time too) Marvin joined the Wailers in 1977 and has some bona fide connection playing guitar and joining the band on Exodus and playing on the next four (and final) Marley albums. He also has played with Steve Winwood, Lenny Kravitz and OAR through the years and recorded four albums as the Wailers 

Fun fact: Marvin was invited to join Stevie Wonder’s band or Marley’s. He picked the Wailers since he was Jamaican 

Great White I know: I mean, the number one people used to think of when they heard the band name was Ian Hunter’s song. But then the fire happened. That is always going to be associated with the band That said, I do know there are two touring versions - lead singer Jack Russell’s (the one with the Rhode Island Nightclub Fire) and the one without Russell 

I learned: Everyone remembers Twice Shy but incredibly, they had eight albums make the Top 200 starting with the 1984 debut and finishing with 1999’s Can’t Get There From Here. That’s an amazing run for a band “Once Bitten Twice Shy” made it all the way to # 5, but they still were getting play and chart action on Rock Radio even as grunge was replacing hair metal. Although I knew they were quite popular, it is a pretty impressive career that I don’t think people realize. Although the band is missing their charismatic lead singer, three of the bands classic five piece lineup are part of the band giving them real authenticity Terry Illous was Russell’s replacement until he left in 2018 to be replaced by Mitch Malloy who stayed until 2022 and singer Andrew Freeman. Freeman’s resume has a little bit of everything- playing on an Offspring album, leading the members of the late Ronnie James Dio’s band in the group Last in Line and singing quite often with George Lynch and his bands. Wiki says the current singer is Brett Carlisle 

Fun Fact: Per Wiki, the band seems to do quite well in Switzerland. In fact, 2012s Elation- the first album with Illous on vocals charted there. 

Vixen I know: In retrospect, we probably should honor Vixen more, the only all female band to make headlines in a sea of glam rockers. “Edge of a Broken Heart” was written by Richard Marx (and apparently co-written by Fee Waybill of the Tubes) and is the first song I think of, but the follow up “Cryin” was a bigger hit going to # 22. 

What I learned: the band’s history starts with guitarist Jan Kuehnemund in 1971 leading to the bands debut album in 1988. The band would put a total of four songs into the Top 100 Like many 80s bands, Vixen went through breakups and reformations, but unlike their peers, the touring lineups largely consisted of the “classic” members. Kuehnemund passed in 2013 and in the last few years, other members have stepped away with drummer Roxy Petrucci the only member remaining. 

Fun fact: an early iteration of the band appeared in that 1984 VHS store staple Hardbodies as the band Diaper Rash. 

 Autograph What I know: I write about some of the music in my youth as #raisedonradio and Autograph’s “Turn Up the Radio” is among the favorite songs of my youth. You likely know the band story. An unsigned band that found themselves opening for Van Halen when unsigned bands didn’t do that. One massive hit - one of those variations on the rock anthem like “Rock and Roll All Nite”. And that is it. That’s the story.

What I learned: the song went to # 29 and clearly was their biggest hit, but they did go as far as chart three albums on the Top 200. But otherwise, yes success was rather short lived. They did have a second hit in “Blondes in Black Cars” that got some rock play from their second album. I went and listened to it and it is definitely “of its time” (a fancy way of saying “cheesy”) I asked a friend who I consider about the biggest fan of 80s rock and he said the band just didn’t have the tunes and that is the music industry for you. The band reunited in 2002 and released a new album but that only lasted three years. After that, singer and most recognizable member Steve Plunkett never had an interest in a reunion but the rest of the band did regroup with Simon Daniels recruited for lead vocals Unfortunately because of deaths, the band that Daniels now leads has no original members left. 

Fun fact: Steve Lynch won “Guitar Solo of the Year” for “Turn up the Radio” in Guitar Players Year End Awards 

Country Gold with LeRoy Van Dyke, Mandy Barnett and David Frizell What I know: The Country Gold concert is as certain as death and taxes with 93 year old Van Dyke leading the proceedings for over 40 years. Van Dyke is probably best known for the country classic “Walk on By”. As a kid, I lived in a house where classic country was the soundtrack, and there were only two songs that really were rock enough for my tastes- “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and Van Dyke’s “The Auctioneer Song”. I didn’t know that Van Dyke predicted punk. Heck, maybe that is a stretch but not enough of a stretch that Hank Williams III made an album of auctioneers over metal guitar in 2011 called 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin. (It surely is one of the most inessential albums ever made but Allmusic shockingly praised it and gave it three and a half stars.) David Frizell was never as famous as his country legend brother Lefty, but he did have one all time classic country song (with Shelly West) in “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma” (# 1 on the country charts in 1981) and though I don’t really remember it, he had another country # 1 in 1982 which I have seen referenced a lot lately called “I’m Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our House”. I know he is one of those artists that has been forgotten in time but West and Frizell were big stars in the early 1980s 

What I learned: Van Dyke’s career was overshadowed by his two early hits, but he had 19 Top 100 country hits from 1956 through 1977. I don’t really know Mandy Barnett at all but she is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and her album I’ve Got A Right to Cry was a Rolling Stone pick Best of pick in 1999. Frizzel’s career spanned decades, first touring with his brother as early as the late 50s until having success in the early 70s and his real time at the top in the early 80s. He had three top 10 country albums in 1981 and 1982 (one solo and two with West). He had six Top 20 country hits with West (the last one in 1984). As a solo artist, he had three Top 10 hits (in 82 and 83) but he did have another 15 Top 100 hits from the time span of 1970 until 1987 

Fun fact: Fast talking was a hallmark of Van Dyke whose one of his final hits was “Who’s Gonna Run the Truck Stop in Tuba City When I’m Gone” 

Asleep at the Wheel What I know: Surely one of the more unique paths a Musical Artist might take. Influenced by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, their style of Western Swing found success in the mid 70s, and while their sound fell out of favor, they had a resurgence in the neo traditional climate of Country music in the late 1980s. 

What I learned: AaatW only had two top 20 country hits - more than a decade apart- 1975s “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read” and 1987s “The House of Blue Lights”. At least 60 members have provided service in Ray Benson’s collective. The band has charted 13 albums on the Country Top 100 Albums chart and 19 total songs on the Country 100. Even as we have entered the 21st Century, the band has placed two albums in the top 15 of the Country Albums Chart- 2009s Willie Nelson collaboration Willie and the Wheel and 2015 Bob Wills tribute Still the King. 

Fun fact: Perhaps one of the most famous musicians to serve time in the band is legendary guitarist Junior Brown (1985-1986) 

Tribute bands What I know: Tribute bands are always a hit and reflect current tastes. This year provides four tribute artists:  Blake Guyre (Elton John/Billy Joel) Hairball (local Glam rock faves) Good to Be King (Tom Petty) Paradise Kitty (Guns N Roses) 

What I learned: 20 year old Guyre often plies his trade in those famous Central Florida amusement parks Hairball has been playing hair rock for 30 years According to the State Fair website, Good to be King are based out of Western Massachusetts, but as far as I know are local band The Jesters Paradise Kitty are a nationally touring All-female Guns N Roses cover band. Lead singer Jenna Syde (get it?) is one of the more interesting interview subjects on the net 

Fun Fact: Hairball bassist (and band resident Gene Simmons impersonator) Dave Moody previously played bass for Billy Ray Cyrus 

Bonus Fair Fun Fact: Every year, the Fair releases ticket sales on the Grandstand act. This year, Eric Church leads the pack with The Chicks closely behind- both selling around 15,000 tickets. The much recently discussed Aldean is in the 10000 range with the nostalgia acts New Kids and Ludacris and Christian pop band For King and Country. Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line), Maren Morris and the Black Keys were all under 7000

Some history and some HD Harmsen

Awhile back, I got to think about local “scenes”. Everyone has local bands. I grew in the sphere of St Louis, a city that had a few successful bands (the Urge, pale Divine, Gravity Kills) though none particularly grabbed me as much as they did my friends. 

After that, I went to the college town of Carbondale, Illinois. While the town was too small to have much of a “scene”, there was a short time from around 1995 to 1997 where there were a bunch of great local bands. For a time, there was a website that had uploaded a bunch of area band songs but it may be defunct now 

My favorite Carbondale band was a rockabilly band called the Bottletones who reunited for their fourth album in 2019. Highly recommended to fans of the genre

I never lived in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois but I almost feel like I did, by proxy.  I did have friends there and the music filtered to me. Now, Champaign legitimately had some national impact. Probably the biggest bands were the late 90s Emo bands like Braid and American Football. Their impact being one of those that only grew in time.  Other Champaign bands to have national success were the Poster Children and Hum

Bands that caught my ear (via friends in the late 90s) were Corndolly, the Beauty Shop, the Funky Butt Drum Club, the Viper and his Famous Orchestra and Hand to Mouth.   All but the last at least have their songs still living eternally in time via streaming.  

I moved to Iowa in 2003. Des Moines doesn’t have a large scene but it has had some good bands during my time here. When I moved here, there weren’t many venues. That would improve, likely peaking around 2011 or so, but in recent years, some smaller stages have closed. Not having those locations is a major bummer. 

My favorite Iowa area (currently active) artists are roots rocker DICKIE, the self explanatory named Surf Zombies and alt country band Loose Gravel. The first two are available on streaming. 

Ames, Iowa is about 40 miles north of Des Moines. It is the home of Iowa State University. It is close enough of course that I don’t know that there is much difference in the two cities’ “scenes”. 

As with the previous two college towns I mentioned, Ames had a swell of great local bands. Particularly, around the same time the Des Moines scene seemed to peak (from 2010 to 2013 or so) there were a lot of interesting sounds coming out. The big boost (as often is the case) was the support of a local record label (Maximum Ames Records) and a concurrent promotion of the annual Maximum Ames Music Festival

If we are being honest, the most popular Ames musician is early Internet celebrity Leslie Hall (Gemsweater.com) and she, in fact, did release music for Maximum Ames. 

But the more typical rock band that led the charge was a four piece called the Poison Control Center- a really talented band that got press from the likes of Pitchfork and the AVClub. 

A top hit on a recent Google search I did was “Ames Music: What the Hell Happened” and admittedly, we are a decade removed from the magical time. I suppose like Carbondale and Chicago, Ames can only slow down ambition of a bigger nearby town like Minneapolis 

Of course, the pandemic set things back for everyone. 

Recently, I saw a musician perform live who had released an album for Maximum Ames Records: HD Harmsen

Harmsen’s discography probably looks as expected. His debut 2013 “Papoose” for Maximum Ames got some local press. A follow up in 2015 called “Idiot Boy” was also released by Maximum Ames

Now, after a recording hiatus, we have his third album Glaciers available on the usual streaming platforms. 

Harmsen is hard to categorize as he jumps genres from Lo-fi rock on the albums opener to chamber pop to anti-folk. 

On the standout “Enmeshed and Obsessed”, the dreamy "Hope Begins in the Heartache" and the instrumental "2020 Visions", he sounds like something off the Shimmy Disc label -which is right down but alley - but other moments on the record recall Guided by Voices or Pavement. 

On stage, he’s dressed up for performance in a white suit. I am reminded of Elliott Smith and I think that could be  coincidental, but there’s definitely the same ingredients making up both musicians- introspective and vulnerable lyrics and vocals but also an ear for melodic indie pop

I started this post saying I had a history of not being impressed by local artists, but I like Glaciers quite a bit and can see it as a really possibility for one being of this year’s favorite discs of mine. 

https://hdharmsen.bandcamp.com/

Spotify- Glaciers

(With apologies to the artist, concert pictures always look worse than real life)

Concert review - Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage

 

My parents didn’t want me going to rock concerts in high school, so upon turning 18 (almost concurrent to graduation) I was ready to make up for last time. 

For a ten year period, concerts were such an important part of my life. I saw so many of my favorite bands. I spent a good chunk of my limited income. Even looking back, I think of this as one of my biggest life accomplishments. I have not tallied it up but I am sure I saw 100 bands or more. Most of these were at smaller venues. 

The next 15 years are a bit of “wilderness” years. I would say concerts were not a priority. Still, I have a fondness for some of the artists I saw. I saw a few more festivals so my numbers might be similar. Also I feel like I saw more of a mix of unusual and unique artists. So what I lacked in Quantity, I made up for in Quality

The last five years or so (pandemic excepted) feels like a “third wave” of concert going.  Kids are growing and I have people that I can go to shows with again. 

Now, I haven’t found a good cadence because I do lack the freedom of the younger me to go see any show. I am more selective and yet, I am trying to find a way to get myself out of that comfort level. 

I am not sure what that looks like yet but I am trying 

But Jeffrey Lewis definitely fits the bill. Here’s an artist I know a bit about, heard a couple of songs, seems interesting but isn’t a “must see” for me or a longtime favorite artist. The former are the kind of shows I probably need in my concert diet. 

What I know about Lewis is his reputation. He’s extremely prolific. His style is called anti-folk which kind of sounds like it says- but had a bit of a heyday in the early 00s with Lewis a key figure alongside Moldy Peaches, Regina Spektor and the Mountain Goats

That was my image going in and I also know he is revered by the DIY and outsider crowd. While I hate the gatekeeping of some of those fans, I would say that is accurate but it’s not like he is a one man band like Bob Log III or Scott H Biram

His setup tonight was pretty traditional- though certainly charming. Brent Cole (Moldy Peaches) on drums, Mallory Feurer on violin and keyboard (who also fronts The Grasping Straws) and Mem Pahl ( Catt Tatt) on bass. A perfect backing band. 

Listening to him live, I shifted my focus from 21st Century marketing to the actual music. My first thought was humorous Michigan area 90s folkie Wally Pleasant. There certainly is a lineage to bands like the Dead Milkmen, They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven and more than anything, the bands that occupied the Shimmy Disc record label roster, not to mention indie nerd mavericks like Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Atom and his Package. 

Weirdly, the opening song made me think of roots rocker Todd Snider. Not that the two styles are comparable but Snider has found a secondary audience for his more humorous work- even getting played regularly on Morning Zoo radio like the Bob and Tom Show. The song about his girlfriend falling asleep when they watch movies together was absolutely wholesome. 

A look at his set lists indicate that each show is quite different. Not that he has any “hits” but his setlist seemed devoid of the songs he is most known for with the one exception of taking an audience request for “The Last Time I Took Acid”.   Though his setlists do have some commonality and I don’t think you are necessarily get a “here’s my new album” set either 

Lewis is also known for drawing comics. Which brings to mind R Crumb indies but also Daniel Johnston’s drawings. 

Lewis performed three of his songs accompanied by a slideshow of his comics -Champion Jim and Creeping Brain certainly fell into the category of Daniel Johnston or perhaps Jad Fair’s monster songs but the third was the History of Communism: Part 5- Vietnam which is apparently part of his concert series 

I really enjoyed the concert if you can’t tell and it probably should go closer to the top on the all time list than others. 

My last question coming in is how “authentic” Lewis is. It’s a ridiculous question of course. But I don’t feel attachment to anybody who just gets up and spits out nonsense.  Lewis is definitely active on social media which made it harder to assess 

But seeing Lewis and briefly meeting him at the merch table afterwards, he is the real deal

That’s not surprising- as he seems to be a huge music fan- even recording entire albums to cover counterculture icons like anarcho punks Crass, the Fall and avant garde pioneer Tuli Kupferberg. Lewis’s work is filled with cameos from Kupferberg, Kimya Dawson, Peter Stampfel, Diane Cluck, Kramer and Producer Roger Moutenot (most of Yo La Tengo’s classic 90s/00s albums).  (He took the stage to the sounds of Jim Sullivan’s “UFO”)

I am not sure if Lewis is a depressive but he has the true brain of a comedian and when his music wasn’t funny (or educational) he had plenty of positive and encouraging (but not cheesy) messages in his songs. 

His most recent album is 2019s Bad Wiring but he has released a collection of A-Sides and B-Sides (2014-2018)

It was one of the best shows I have seen in recent years. Support was local and great (to the point) I might just write about them individually- Book of Bees and HD Harmsen

Raised on Radio - Taco

I think the music of my youth is the best ever. For a second, I will pretend that everyone doesn’t think the music of their youth was the all time best. I write about the forgotten (and not so forgotten) songs of my youth and I call it #raisedonradio. But dang, if MTV helped usher in some adventurous music in the early 1980s. I am going with a one hit wonder but it really is an all-time favorite song of mine, and I don’t think I ever heard a second song from this artist. Taco probably doesn’t need an introduction. You likely know the Simpsons reference ("Thanks Taco for that loving tribute to Falco"). The Indonesian-born German-based singer really had the one huge hit. His follow up “Singin in the Rain” got some world airplay (except in the US) and he had a couple of minor European hits. I remember Casey Kaseum said something that I never have heard or be able to verify since. But my understanding was that Taco appended a certain amount of “There’s No Business like Show Business” and the original “Gotta Dance” bit so he got some time of writing credit as it became a medley instead of a cover. (Which makes sense if true, Marc Almond surely lost a large sum of money by pairing a cover "Tainted Love" with another cover "Baby, Where Did Our Love Go" instead of an original) Again, in a world where you can look anything, I can’t confirm what I vaguely remember from a radio bit I heard once 40 years ago. But I do love Taco who’s singing a depression era tune, dressed to the nines, he looks mad, possibly evil. A rock star but a rock star seemingly moved to the Vegas (or New York) lights. OMG!?! Did Bono just rip off Taco wholesale for his Mephisto/ Zoo TV character?

Album Review- Iggy Pop- Every Loser

I feel like the last two thirds of Iggy Pop’s 50plus year career has been “comeback”s. Maybe that is the way it works for any long time artist. He has had some high points of course. 1993s American Caesar and 2016s Post Pop Depression felt like late career capstones. 2023’s Every Loser feels every bit of a marker of where Iggy is going next. I have read a few reviews that suggest that it’s every aspect of Iggy’s career covered in one album. It’s certainly more catchy than 2019’s Free- a Pop into poetry, jazz and atmospheric introspection. In many ways, it’s hard not to compare Every Loser to 1990s Brick by Brick. That album paired Iggy with a big time producer (Don Was) and a bunch of stars- Slash and Duff from Guns N Roses, John Hiatt, Kate Pierson, Waddy Wachtel and Kenny Aronoff. Every Loser is produced by Andrew Watt (Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Vedder) and features an all star list of rockers- Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, Stone Gossard, Taylor Hawkins, Travis Barker, Josh Klinghoffer and once again, Duff McKagan Iggy has done the rock star cameo thing before with 2003s Skull Ring with Green Day, Sum 41, and Peaches. Though there are as many opinions as fans, I consider Skull Ring one to skip. Every Loser does have some of that “big, dumb” rock that Iggy is known for, but Watt generally knows what to do here. There’s no great single on par with the best songs off Brick by Brick but the album holds together. Opener “Frenzy” and “Modern Day Ripoff” get closest to the mark as the kind of rocker Iggy made in the 1980s. If anything, the album reminds me of 1999s Avenue B. Not necessarily sonically- though it does at times share some characteristics of introspection and occasionally slowing down especially on songs like “Morning Show” and those two tracks labeled as “interludes” But Avenue B was an album that at first few listens felt like it would be one of Iggy’s better albums, but it didn’t really hold over too much over time. I doubt Every Loser will float to the top either. Watt is a positive but also a bit of a negative too. If Iggy really wanted to shake some listeners, he is a bit polished here. Closer “Regency” is the most discussed song here and it probably should be, as it feels like what the album is building to. It’s also a pretty good example of the album. It is very ambitious, and yet feels like it falls short. It’s full of profanity. Musically, it is the closest to 80s and 90s Iggy, which is notable considering some of his recent detours. Neither the song nor the album are the type of quality that gets mentioned in the obituary. Yet, that isn’t to say it’s not a good album. Album tracks like “Strung Out Johnny” and “Comments” are amazingly strong despite some pretty overused lyric fodder - hard drugs and social media.