Classic rock preservationists Stone Axe have officially announced that they’re hitting the road through the UK, parts of Europe, and wrapping up the tour with a night at the illustrious Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland! Starting on April 8th in Oxford, England and running through April 16th, this will mark the third time that the band has ventured to foreign soil with the aim of converting new ears to their sonic-brand of classic rock, but this time they’ll be doing it in support of their first CD/DVD package.
Scheduled for release on April 5th and in time for the tour, Stone Axe has put together a Deluxe Edition of their self-titled debut album. The CD portion of the package features eight bonus live tracks, while the DVD portion features more than 70 minutes of videos, interviews, and live footage! Released through Ripple Music, Stone Axe – Expanded Edition CD/DVD will be available for pre-order beginning February 18st, 2011 on the label's web site. www.ripple-music.com
Tour Dates:
8th April -The Wheatsheaf, Oxford (with Stubb, Trippy Wicked, Desert Storm) 9th April- The Unicorn, Camden, London, UK (with Stubb, Trippy Wicked, Grifter) 10th April- The Earl, Sheffield, UK (with Stubb, Trippy Wicked, Groan) 11th April- The Captains Rest, Glasgow (with Stubb, Trippy Wicked, Low Sonic Drift) 12th April- Asylum 2, Birmingham (with Stubb, Trippy Wicked, Alunah) 14th April- The Vortex, Siegen, Germany (with Stubb)
Stone Axe has also contributed a song to the Heavy Ripples double vinyl 7” compilation that will also feature three other acts that have put their own unique spin on the sounds from a by-gone 70’s era, showing that rock n’ roll hasn’t died, but simply has gotten better! The compilation record will include tracks from the UK blues-based bike rockers Grifter, Brooklyn-based stoner-fied punks Mighty High, and New England’s southern-rock-tinged Sun Gods In Exile (on loan from incomparable Small Stone Records). The record will be officially released on April 19th to a world-wide audience!
Sometimes it’s just inexplicable. As much of a music omnivore as I am, it still surprises me when something so good slips past my radar unnoticed. Granted, sometimes certain bands just don’t make it across the big pond, no matter how much of a buzz they generate in their homeland. But still . . . you’d think I’d of at least heard of em.
But no. Both of these bands came to me as virtual unknowns, and if it wasn’t for the painstaking work of those dedicated to getting lost classic albums re-released on gorgeous deluxe editions, they’d still remain unknown. But thankfully, they’re not, and as these discs are spinning in my player, it’s time to spread the word.
The Frames – Another Love Song
What we got here is indelibly classic, rousing anthemic rock in the vein of the best of The Waterboys and The Alarm. And if either of those bands turn you on, then The Frames are not to be missed. Led by Glen Hansard, Another Love Song is The Frames energetic, joyous debut, full of crashing guitars, soaring chorus, impassioned vocals and walls of sound coming at you fully in The Waterboys wake. At times atmospheric and delicate, at other times frenzied and rebellious, The Frames bring a distinct class and musicianship to their “Nick Drake meets The Pixies” version of Irish rock.
Born in Dublin, Hansard quit school at age 13 to start busking in the local streets. Signed to Island Records on the strength of a cheap demo, Hansard set about creating a band to go with his hymns of passion and energy. Taking a break to co-star in the hit film The Commitments, Hansard returned to the studio with Pixies producer Gil Norton, to record their debut album. Just one listen to opener “The Dancer” and you can tell we’re in for a wild ride. Chunks of scratching guitar, crashing drums, soaring violin hit me with full on Waterboys bombast and just a hint of U2. Hansard’s phrasing recalls Mike Scott’s also. But this is no Waterboys clone, it’s simply perfectly done, rousing rock and roll.
“You Were Wrong” loses nothing as the next track, dropping in some subtle shifts in dynamics and a beautiful bass line and chugging acoustic guitar. “Masquerade” ups the ante on the rich dramatic sound, while “Another Love Song,” rages with an almost punk frenzy. But later on, The Frames were characterized by their more low-key atmospheric sound, which can be heard clearly on the gorgeous and moving “Downhill from Here.”
Tack on 8 bonus tracks, including a fantastic acoustic version of “The Dancer,” and we’ve definitely got an album I’m sorry I missed, and incredibly grateful that I’ve finally found.
Densely atmospheric. Throbbing in electropop intensity. The German quartet Propaganda step up to the podium and take their place amongst the most ambitious of the 80’s synth pop bands. Layers of synths. Throbbing bass and rhythms lift this disc way above the ordinary. Toss in guest stars such as David Sylvain from Japan, Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17, and Yes’s Steve Howe and we can see just how high those ambitions reached.
“A Dream within a Dream” is just that, lush and hypnotic, intoxicating in its simplicity and beauty. The lights go out, the club patrons settle in for a late martini, melting into the overstuffed chairs in the back. Sensual passions rise. Love making ensues. Yes, it’s all there in the 9-plus minutes of this song. Sexual tension brims in the production. Simply exquisite. An early precursor to what would later became known as chill or late night lounge, Propaganda were way ahead of their time on this one.
“The Murder of Love,” brings in a bass line that could’ve easily been found on one of label mates Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s albums. Thick and pulsating, dancefloor ready without being overbearing or predictable. But Propaganda are no Frankie and immediately take the song off into their own world of synths and experimental sound effects. Propaganda weren’t afraid to play with the formula. “Jewel,” ups the ante with a stab at electro-punk while “Duel” is pure electropop. Think a hybrid of Frankie, Art of Noise and a touch of The Human League and you’ll get the feeling here. And if those band’s move you, then Propaganda will probably move you too.
Compiled by Ian Peel, who’s been doing a phenomenal job of reissuing the ZTT catalog on deluxe editions, this edition of A Secret Wish comes stacked full of bonuses, both on the first disc as well as the bonus second disc. Alternate versions, unreleased tracks. If you’re a Propaganda fan, this is the motherlode. While it might all be a bit too much to take in one sitting, when the moods right, you could randomly hit play anywhere and be richly rewarded.
This is the 4th, and hopefully the last, time I have bought Raw Power by Iggy & The Stooges. First there was the LP, then the CD in 1989, then Iggy’s remix in 1997 and now the remastered deluxe version. I even went whole hog and bought the overpriced box set because I’m such a fanatic. So do you need this new version of Raw Power? Of course you do. Despite all of it’s sonic problems, it’s still one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
For the uninitiated, The Stooges hit rock bottom and broke up in 1971. Iggy Pop got lucky and met David Bowie in New York which led to deals with Bowie’s manager and CBS Records. Originally signed as a solo artist, it evolved into a new version of The Stooges. James Williamson became Iggy’s new musical partner, and after trying out some musicians in England, they decided to recruit Scott Asheton on drums and brother Ron Asheton switched from guitar to bass. The music this band created was just as intense as their previous material but had some a bit more conventional songwriting structure.
Recorded in 1972 but not released until February 1973, Raw Power in its original form was 8 classic songs delivered in 34 violent minutes. Over the years there has been much said about the sound of the album and the final mix that involved David Bowie. Iggy is credited as the producer of the album and his original mix (later to show up on many bootlegs and Bomp’s 1995 CD Rough Power) was rejected for being too insane. Bowie was drafted in to try and make sense of it all and to hopefully sell a few more units. Over the years Iggy and Bowie have made a lot of derogatory comments about each others work on Raw Power. Iggy says Bowie neutered it, Bowie says they made so many technical errors during the recording it couldn’t be fixed. No one will ever really know the truth since everyone involved was totally out of their minds on drugs back then. Bowie’s mix is pretty tame compared to Iggy’s original, and Iggy’s remix tried too hard to appeal to the Rage Against The Machine crowd.
So how does the original Raw Power remaster sound? Fuckin great! Bowie’s original mix totally buries the bass and drums, which is a shame because Ron and Scott play great. But truth be told, this is the version we all grew up with and how we first heard the songs. Every song on here is a stone classic. The anthems “Search & Destroy” and “Raw Power” are just as potent as ever. “Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell” and “Shake Appeal” kick ass, “Gimme Danger” and “I Need Somebody” are killer slow burners. “Penetration” is one of the greatest guitar riffs ever written while “Death Trip” acknowledges that they know their band is destined for failure. Iggy’s lyrics are excellent and his voice delivers them with much venom and determination. James’ guitar playing is stellar. This was his first time recording an album and he certainly left his mark. His sound and style made a huge impact on everyone from The Dead Boys, The Dictators, Sex Pistols to The Smiths and just about anyone else who picked up an electric guitar after 1973.
The real reason to pick this up is the previously unreleased live show from Atlanta, October 1973. The Stooges played about a week’s worth of shows at a club called Richards that have become pretty legendary. One night Iggy snorted so much crystal meth he thought he was hallucinating when a gorilla jumped on stage. Turns out it was Elton John in a costume. Iggy later said the only reason Sir Elton was interested in the band was because he wanted to get into James Williamson’s pants. This show was recorded for radio broadcast but never aired. It’s easy to see why. Iggy’s dirty talk and the bands sound was way too over the top for commercial radio, then or now.
There have been many Stooges bootlegs documenting the 1973 tour, but this one has the best fidelity. The performance is very good and there’s plenty of Iggy antagonizing the crowd. In between songs you can hear a woman in the crowd say “I don’t think he likes us.” Iggy confronts a heckler by yelling at him “hey, you want to get your little fuckin face punched out little cracker boy? Come up here little Billy boy, I’m sick of your shit!” Needless to say, the guy does not accept the offer.
James’ guitar cuts in and out for the first 2 songs but his playing is top notch. Ron often complained about getting moved to bass, but his playing is incredibly fluid and locks in with Scott like few rhythm sections in rock. Scott Thurston (later of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) joined the band on piano and harmonica and plays great. By the time Raw Power was released the band was already bored of the material and only playing a few songs from the album - the title track, “Search & Destroy,” “I Need Somebody” and “Gimme Danger.” The next batch of songs they were working on showed immense potential. “Head On” is easily one of their best songs and is driven by an incredible bass line by Ron (lifted from “L.A. Woman” by The Doors). “Cock In My Pocket” and “Heavy Liquid” are fast rockers. There are a few different arrangements of “Heavy Liquid” from other live shows out there, but this version is probably the best. “Open Up and Bleed” is another great unreleased song. Long, slow and moody, it highlights the frustration the band felt at the time.
For the maniacs that buy the box set, there’s a 3rd CD with some outtakes from the session. Most of them have been released before on numerous semi-legal compilations. “I’m Hungry” is new to me. It’s the same take of “Penetration” with Iggy trying out some different lyrics. Cool, but unessential stuff. The best part of the box set is the hour long DVD about the making of Raw Power. Chrissie Hynde, Henry Rollins, Johhny Marr and a few others talk about the importance of the album, but it’s even better to hear it straight from Iggy, James and Scott. You get to see James demonstrate how to play the riff to “Penetration” and talk about how he approached writing the songs. You also get to hear how Scott launched his copy out the front door the first time he heard the final mix of Raw Power. The box also comes with a big booklet with lots of Mick Rock’s iconic photos of the band and a 7” single that replicates the Japanese 45 of “Raw Power” b/w “Search & Destroy.”
Iggy & The Stooges will be performing Raw Power in its entirety at the All Tomorrows Parties festival in upstate NY this September as well as some European festivals this summer.
Living in LA in the '80's, you couldn't be faulted for thinking that everybody in the world knew about thePlimsouls. Blasting "1,000,000 Miles Away" or "Hush Hush" through the speakers of KSPC radio, it just seemed natural that the rest of the world was tuned into what we all took for granted.. . . that the Plimsouls were just about the best damn rock band out there. Imagine my surprise then when I found out the Plimsouls were actually more of a hometown legend than a world destroyer. Well, that just couldn't be right.
But unfortunately it was. While we had the chance to catch the boys live just about any night we chose down at any club in LA, the rest of the world wasn't so lucky. And after disbanding, and Peter Case launching off on a cool, wandering troubadour singing career, it seemed that the rest of the world was just going to miss out on that high-octane mixture of garage, psychedelia and power pop that defined the Plimsouls.
Well, the rest of the world doesn't have to miss out anymore. Recorded live on the Sunset Strip near the peak of their prowess, Live! Beg, Borrow and Steal demonstrates just about everything that made the Plimsouls our favorite little secret. Check out that crowd reaction as the announcer brings on "LA's Finest." They knew who these guys were. They loved these guys. And it's no wonder, launching immediately into the shimmering guitar riff of "Hush Hush," dropping right down into that near tribal beat, The Plimsouls brought it all that night. This is a hefty dose of power pop songwriting skills still buried in the fuzz and grit of the garage. Pure pop heaven, but not all cleaned up and pretty. The Plimsouls, despite all their refinement could mess around with the best of them.
Right of the bat it's easy to see what made the Plimsouls so powerful. In Peter Case they not only had a songwriter of world-class talent, but they also got a front man of tremendous charisma and a voice that just oozed soul in its throaty delivery. If they'd had some pretty boy, soft and smooth tenor singing, it just wouldn't have worked. Listen to Peter's voice barely hanging on during "Shaky City." You just don't find soul like that mixed in with your power pop everyday.
Over the 18 songs, many Plimsouls classics appear, from the above mentioned songs to "Now," "A Million Miles Away," and "Zero Hour." Each of those tracks are perfect, punchy and gritty, just the way I remember them from any number of club dates. But thrown into the mix are a couple of surprises that just make this Live Album irresistible. The 5th track is a frenetic moment of crunchy garage pop perfection as the Plimsouls take on the Easybeat's "Sorry," a song I'd always associated with The Three O'clock. And damn, if they don't mine that one to perfection. Another special treat comes near the end as the Fleshtones come on out and join The Plimsouls on stage for a definitively ragged rendition of the garage rager "New Orleans" and "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" The fun those two bands were having that night was infectious, the audience wailing in approval, as I am right now.
If you're a fan of the Plimsouls, you don't want to miss one.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition
You had to be there.
Way back in 1984, I was living in England, attending Cambridge University and basically sucking up as much British music as I could. One night, I finally gathered up the nerve to ask Terese, a waitress at the dining hall, out to dinner and dancing. After a fine (?) meal of local British cuisine (?) we made our way to the main underground club. Electro New Wave was all the rage then, with bands like Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and New Order dominating the dancefloor. Then from out of nowhere, the DJ plopped on a brand new single he'd just received. After a tentative moment of unfamiliarity, as the song crept up to speed through it's synthesizer intro, the beat started. Holly Johnson's voice filled the speakers with his plaintive wail, and then . . . all hell broke loose. Guess you had to be there, but as "Relax" gained in speed and power and tempo, the entire club went crazy. Lights flashing, lasers streaming, smoke billowing, it seemed like there had never been a dance song created before Frankie's "Relax," and it certainly seemed that there could never be another one after it.
Within weeks, Frankie t-shirts started appearing in the local market, then on the television, then all over the world. Once the BBC finally realized how absolutely filthy the lyrics to "Relax" were, they banned the song, which only sent it into the stratosphere. No one could get enough Frankie in those heady days of big hair and bad clothing. I still have my very-banned copy of the "Relax" 12" that dared to feature the words Come and Suck on the cover.
When I got back to America, the Frankie Goes to Hollywood frenzy hadn't arrived on the Yankee shores yet, so it was up to me to spread the gospel. I played that "Relax" 12" for anyone who'd listen, creating a swath of Frankie converts in my wake. And it was easy. With the intense density of the bass riff and those massive guitar chords, "Relax" became one of the few dance songs that even some metalheads could nod to. "War" and "Two Tribes" followed, each 12" greedily added to my collection. But my eyes were on the distant prize, the upcoming Welcome to the Pleasuredome album.
Now in America, it seems that Frankie never reached the heights they did back in the UK. Probably, because in the US people didn't know what to make of the band. They either took them too seriously or dismissed them as a joke, and neither response was appropriate. Frankie were both, they were everything, and they were nothing. They were totally over-the-top flamboyance in an age of flamboyance. They were trend followers, not starters, who nonetheless created trends in their wake. They were fantastic and awful all in the same breath. They were a brilliant, sexy, blasphemous, decadent, and threatening pop cartoon. That's what made them so damn outrageous.
With this 25th anniversary release of Pleasuredome, the world once again can lose itself in the Frankie spell. "Relax," "War," and "Two Tribes," sound just as dancefloor pounding brilliant today as they did back then. Songs that just refuse to age. "Welcome to the Pleasuredome," has an added aura of completeness, the best of the new tracks that appeared on that album, with it's nonstop, undulating shear-hypnotic dance beat. It was Frankie's call to action. To lose your inhibitions and your hang-ups at the door, loosen up that thing you call an ass and find your place on the dancefloor. Somehow, that tune sounds more epic today than it did in 1984.
The other songs, much like they did back then, offer a mixed bag of the brilliant and the terrifying. For some reason Frankie's cover of Springsteen's "Born to Run" makes sense to me this time, some twisted, mutated dance anthem of rebellion. "Wish The Lads Were Here," bakes in the sweat of its pulsating dance floor orgy mode, while "Krisco Kisses," is just positively filthy, a sexcapade wrapped up in a swinging bass line and a methamphetamine frenzy. Even "Ferry" a song I despised at the time, sounds right this time around. Other songs like the still bewildering inclusion of Bacharach's "San Jose (The Way)" still leave me mystified. But then, that's Frankie.
But of course, any double-disc anniversary edition is only as good as the bonus disc, and on this one tons of treats await, from the 16 minute extended version of "Relax" to the Greek disco remix of "Relax" to the 11 minute never before released version of "The Ballad of 32." As good as these are, the real treats are the previously unreleased demos of "Two Tribes," and "War," proving them to be just as powerful in their rawer, under-produced stages. "Watusi Love Juicy," is an entirely unreleased song from the end of the Pleasurdome-era that will only go on to further the Frankie legend.
My advice. Forget reading this review. You know the songs. Give in. Find your place on the dancefloor my friend. Lights out. Decadence awaits.
The Plimsouls - Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal
- Welcome to the Pleasuredome Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition