Ripple Music To Celebrate 1 year Anniversary with Thank You Discounts and a Special Giveaway!

After exploding onto the scene June of last year, Ripple Music continues its path as one of the fastest growing Independent Record Labels in America!

Following a year that saw the signing and releasing of new and vintage material from Stone Axe, Poobah, JPT Scare Band, Fen, Modern Day Moonshine, Mighty High, Grand Atlantic, Sky Parade, and Kevin Beadles, Ripple Music followed up by adding such bands as Mos Generator, Iron Claw, Grifter, and Tripdavon to their roster, and inked several major international distribution deals.  And there's much more to come!

Now, as Ripple Music moves into its second year, founders John Rancik and Todd Severin want to celebrate the enthusiasm of their music lovers (known as waveriders) with some Anniversary Specials.  As a thank you to their fans and supporters who’ve allowed Ripple to strike out and bring independent music to the world, Ripple will be applying special 15% discounts on everything ordered from the Ripple Store from anniversary day, June 22nd through Independence day July 4^th.

And when Ripple Music says “discount on everything” they mean everything, including special collectors packages of Stone Axe I deluxe CD/DVD, vinyl and 7” single,  the new Heavy Ripples double 7” package, and the best-selling Poobah “Let Me In” double 12” LP.  In the store, you can also find classic non-Ripple albums from Ripple artists Stone Axe, Mos Generator, and JPT Scare Band.  All of which will get the additional anniversary discount.

But wait, there's more.  Every waverider who places an order during the anniversary special will get their name placed into a drawing for a very special, last-one-of-its-kind surprise Test Pressing.  Yes, John and Todd are going to go back into the vault and pull out the last test pressing available and give it away as a special surprise to one lucky fan.

It’s all just Ripple’s way of saying thank you for allowing them to keep doing what they love, bringing the best music your way and putting the guts back into rock and roll!

RIPPLE MUSIC STORE

www.ripple-music.com

Ripple News - Help Support the Music Maker Relief Foundation

Music Maker Relief Foundation keeps our culture vital by directly
supporting senior (over 55) American roots musicians in need. We
provide for basic life essentials while expanding their professional
careers so that our rich musical heritage can be shared with the world
and preserved for future generations.

Since the organization’s founding in 1994, Music Maker has assisted
hundreds of musicians who represent the traditions of Blues, Gospel,
Old-Time String Band, Jazz and more.

Music Maker’s programs ensure the talents of these cultural treasures
are accessible through hundreds of US and international live
performances, multi-media documentation and outreach initiatives.

Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. is a tax exempt, public charity
under IRS code 501(c)3.

Programs
Musician Sustenance - grants to meet basic life needs and emergency relief.
Musical Development - grants and services for recipient artist
professional development and career advancement.
Cultural Access - supports the preservation and proliferation of
American musical traditions.
This project is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council with
funding from the state of North Carolina and the National Endownment
for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Check it all out at the Music Maker Relief Foundation.  Support the cause.  Keep the music alive!

Kaye Bohler - Like A Flower

 

One of the constants in my life since I first moved to Northern California over thirty years ago has been the local music scene.  Ever since the blues moved west in the 1940’s the area between Monterey and Eureka,- the Bay, Coast, Redwoods, Peninsula and Delta - have been  magnets for musicians and artists.  Well above the average per capita number of musicians and artists live here than live in most other major metropolitan areas. Northern California has its own cadence and its own style.

The Bay Area was overrun with great players well before the blues-based “San Francisco Sound” - that counterculture rock music performed live and recorded by San Francisco-based rock groups of the mid-1960s to early-1970s.  After World War II  the “West Coast Blues” style exploded all over the Bay Area.  It was typified by T-Bone Walker and Charlie Christian with their jazzy swing versions of Chicago jump blues.  The West Coast Blues became the progenitor of the “San Francisco Sound.”

The result of all of this talent in one place inevitably leads to recording sessions by neighbors and friends.  Such is the case with Kaye Bohler’s release Like A Flower. Kaye is a Bay Area singer/songwriter who fronts her own blues band, The Kaye Bohler Band.  On Like A Flower she enlists the help of two Northern California blues guitar legends, the amazing Robben Ford and the incomparable Tommy Castro.  When put all together by Berkeley-based Red Rooster Studio Producer Tony Lufrano you get a great album of Kaye Bohler written blues tunes that provides a wonderful snapshot of the West Coast Blues community in the early 21st Century.

Bohler has a deep blues voice with decent, but limited, range.  Yet, that is not necessarily a bad thing.  Billie Holiday’s voice lacked range, was thin, and due to years of excessive drug use, quivered.  There is more to singing than range, such as delivery, and Bohler makes the most of what she has.

It is the rotating band line-ups that standout on this release. Predictably, the tracks with Tommy Castro and Robben Ford are incredibly tight, However, the band on every track cooks despite ever-changing band personnel.  It seems as if every track is backed by a different group of players. It makes for a “Who’s Who” of today’s Northern California blues player community. Kaye is joined by her husband drummer John Paul and lead guitarist Sammy Varela, both from Kaye’s Bay Area Band; bassist Steve Evans from the East Bay’s Chris Cain Band;  Berkeley-based session guitarist and instructor Garth Webber; percussionist Cubby Ingram from the San Francisco group What a Band!;  San Francisco vocalists Kathy Kennedy and Keta Bill; Bay Area guitarist Danny Caron; Oakland trumpteer Tom Fuglestadt; Walnut Creek saxophonist Armon Boyd; tombonist Joel Behrman from the San Francisco group Brass Mafia; Bay Area drummer Jimmy Sanchez formerly from the Delta Rhythm Kings and now with the Flying Other Brothers; San Francisco trumpeteer Tom Poole; and the list goes on and on. 

That, in itself, makes Like A Flower an important album in the history of the “West Coast Blues.”  I know of no other album that brings together the backbone of the Northern California blues-based music community in one release. Future music lovers will be able to listen to this 2009 album and hear and feel the West Coast Bay Area blues music scene of the first decade of the second millennia.

They should like what they hear.

- Old School

Buy here: Like a Flower
Buy here mp3: Like a Flower

An Electrying Edifice of Ebullient EP's - Featuring Frost Hammer, Aaron Zimmer, Prevenge/Dig It Up, and Bacchus Baracus

Frost Hammer - Live at Reeds

Sometimes you just get lucky.  There I was, minding my own business, sharing a club sandwich with my father-in-law, when an email pops across my iPhone.  Nothing too unusual.  At the Ripple we get over 400 band submissions a month.  But something about this email caught my eye.  First, they were local boys, coming from San Jose, and I always want to support local music.  Second, this wasn't a demo or a first ep, or some fine studio recording.  What came across were 3 tracks, all recorded live at Reeds Studios, the first of many to come from these guys.  Now, that takes balls. To introduce yourself to the world through three songs cut live.  No overdubs.  No glossy production.  Just guitars, bass, drum, and occasional vocal.  Yes, we have balls.  Welcome to our world.  We are Frost Hammer.

And fuck if they aren't!  Forget the overdubs.  What we got here are three searing tracks of guitar fury, detuned and bottom end heavy.  We're mixing the root of Sabbath with some retro-70's Nugent guitar histrionics and groove and tossing in a hint of NWOBHM riffing.  "Master of Weapon" is my off the cuff favorite.  But that's not to say the others aren't killer.  "Void" and "Wizard Tooth" both decimate with earthquake inducing doom riffing and guitar work that comes across like a cross between Iommi and Satriani.  In other words, the cat can shread when he wants to but knows the value of keeping it simple and clean.  "Wizard Tooth," is just a monster of post-Sabbath riffery that tosses in some furious NWOBHM finese, and stop-start time changes.  "Void" is an instrumental that never loses focus and simply terrorizes.

This isn't really an EP. More songs from these sessions are coming and a full length is due soon.  So keep your eyes open.  But I just couldn't wait til then to give these guys some press.  Retro-riff rockers, seek them out!

Hear them at the Frost Hammer Band Page.

Aaron Zimmer - This Time Next Year

It was last year sometime that we at the Ripple fell under the spell of earnest singer/songwriter Aaron Zimmer, and his full throttle pop.  Now after spending a year playing in the NY area, Aaron comes back with his first new EP, This Time Next Year, and the maturation in song-writing is like a new day dawning.  Playing it a bit looser and rootsier than most of the debut album, This Time Next Year is a knock out of a follow up.  Aaron seems to be a bit more relaxed, some loose strumming of his acoustic guiding most songs like the erstwhile "Broken Records."  The single "Honey, Give Me a Hand," we'd already reviewed in these pages after we got wrapped up in its giddy with spontaneity, and it's still my favorite song here.  "Cab Fare," a languid ballad, brings out some of Aaron's more country roots while "Conspiracy Theorist" surprises with its horn-section accompaniment. 

Just as he did with Live Wires, Aaron has crafted an EP of indy rock perfection.  As with all Aaron’s songs, the melody is right in the forefront, bringing me in, letting me know I’m in good hands.  The casual rush of the song sweeps over me in a moment of shear pop delight.

Aaron Zimmer band page

Prevenge/Dig It Up - Split

Hyper-adrenalinized punk from Montreal.  We got us two bands fresh from the recording studio after pounding six cases of Red Bull and tossing in a Rockstar chaser.  Jittery hands and flailing hearts avoid the Emergency Room by burning off that chemical concoction pounding away on buzzsaw guitars and pulverized drum skins.

It just doesn't get much better than this.  Prevenge's two tracks, "Berry'd Alive" and " Wicked Mess," combine old-school punk chops with modern pop-punk melodic chops and enough blister-riddled fingers and knuckles to make it all work.  Guitars chug and spit and slobber and it's all f'ing perfect.  Vocals that dig into the punk larynx without ever becoming annoying or whiny are a major plus.  I just may have found my new favorite true punk band. 

Then comes Dig It Up, spitting and shouting, generally causing a ruckus and setting a bad example for youth everywhere.  Slightly choppier, definitely dirtier.  Dropping the melody for an extra dose of spleen venting, Dig It Up are the perfect foil for the slightly more polished Prevenge.  "Move My Way," is a chaotic blast of poor impulse control in all the best ways.  Drums are attacked with no signs of mercy.  Guitars leap and jump seemingly at random but altogether forming a cohesive whole.  Less pop.  More punk.  Bring on that big bass line 3/4 in and I'm in heaven.  "Cops on Horses," adds even more hardcore intensity with some seriously surprising musical chops.  What the hell are they doing when the crunching chords drop out?    Punk with a touch of crust?  Don't know what to call it.   I just want to hear it.  Again and again.

Punk rockers look out.  This split is for real.

Get it here for free (but please donate)  Juicebox Recording Co.

Bacchus Baracus - Growler

Another find from the brilliant musical minds of the Soda Shop.  Here comes a four-song, double whiskey shot of blurred, alcohol dazed retro-stoner power.  Massively heavy.  Detuned to the point of rattling spleens out of their audience's bodies.  Bacchus Baracus bring a lacerated larynx to the tobacco and weed stained proceedings.  Going way beyond any Sabbath influence, these cats jump deep into the puddle of Nazareth, spit out the fluid of a sweaty Nugent, and ride the riff waves of Mountain.  Thick, ropy chords propel this smoke-fest ever onward through the fuzzy haze.  Named after the God of wine, Bacchus and whatever the hell Baracus means, these cats are not content to wallow in the doom misery of much fuzzed-riff rock. They want a party and damn it, if there ain't one, they're gonna get it started.

"The Longest Day," simply terrorizes, ripping through it's riffs with an orgy-feeding frenzy.   "Dr Chu" marries a post-Fu Manchu fuzzmania to a serious beat.  Damn, this song cooks.  The pummeling, dirty, and bottom-heavy blues riffs of "Rock and Roll Man," probably serves as the band's morning mantra.  And by morning, of course I mean three in the afternoon when they finally get their asses out of bed to deal with the hangover from the night before.  This song even sounds like a Roman chant to me, getting the testosterone burning as the gladiators are paraded out for a night of pagan delights with the wives of all the old and frigid senators. 

Seriously cool stuff.

Listen and get it here:  Bacchus Baracus

Gangstagrass (featuring T.O.N.E.-Z) - Lightning on the Strings, Thunder on the Mic

 

I just wanna know how the conversation went down.

There you had it; one fine bluegrass band, guitar, fiddle, resonator guitar, banjo and bass on hand, just hanging out in the studio one day with a jug of moonshine and some hayseed, when the guitarist looked over to the banjo player and said, “You know what we’re missing here?”

“No, what?” the banjo player must've replied,  “Harmonica?  Washboard?”

“No,” the guitarist stated, slinging his six-string over his shoulder.  “What this bluegrass jam really needs to take off is a hot-ass rapper and some dope DJ spinning the tables.”  

Ok, maybe he didn’t say “dope.”

You’d have to think something like that happened because the thought of gangster rap mixed with real-trad bluegrass is about as incongruent as the London Philharmonic playing on the infield of NASCAR.  Just shouldn’t happen.

But it did, and damn if this isn’t one of my favorite discs of the year.  Just try and get it out of my car player.  Heavy in beat, twangy in tone, Gangstagrass manages to take the best of both worlds and pull em together as if they’d always been meant to be there.  Think of this as music from inner city Memphis, or downtown Birmingham.  Whatever.  It works.

In truth, the combination probably came a lot more naturally than my made up conversation  Mastermind Rench is a guitarist, songwriter, and producer from Brooklyn already entrenched in the honky tonk and trip hop worlds.  All he did was pull together what he does best, find some like minded folk and get one funky breakbeat going on down at the old farmhouse.   And let me tell you, the results are brilliant.  Dirty and country dusty hip hop.

Let’s forget the beats for a moment.  This is hardcore ‘grass.  Guitars picking and strumming, banjo twangy, resonator guitar filling the spaces, and that great fiddle just wailing over it all.  Each of these cats can play and mesh perfectly together as a unit.  Each player aims to fill out the music, not overwhelm it.  Filling in some tasty fills, backing off for the fiddle to run high and low.   It all works.

Now the beats.   With Prepmode on the turntables, plus Rench programming some beats, we got lots of room for T.O.N.E-Z to play in.  And play he does.  With a crisp pace and clear tone, T.O.N.E-Z unleashes one tale of urban struggle after another.  Nice and fluid, his raps pack power and clarity.  Not just senseless boasting or ‘ho busting here, Gangstagrass ain’t afraid to take on politics and strife.

And the album kills it right from the get go.  “That’s Right I’m Good,” rides a swinging fiddle melody over some twangy guitar as the beats hit hard from second one.   This ain’t a political one, this is pure on rap boasting, setting the stage for the album to follow.  T.O.N.E-Z makes his case as being the best rapper around and as the band tears the roof off the barn behind him, it’s impossible to argue.  Yeah, it’s rap.  Yeah, it’s bluegrass.  But together there’s just something authentic about it all, just real and honest, foot stomping party music.  The band getting down.  The rapper hitting his flow.  Hell, yeah.

“I’m Gonna Put You Down,” is even heavier, with its spartan beat over that loose strung guitar.  Here, the fiddle comes on like a mourner at a funeral, laying down the atmosphere, and really hits me with its mood and tone.  This is pure gangsta here, praising and hating the hood in the same breath.  And it all resonates, each beat bringing that gritty reality to the rap.  And when the chorus kicks in with the cowboy-blues vocals, it’s a moment of brilliance.  “Dig a hole, dig a hole in the meadow.  Dig a hole, dig a hole in the cold, cold ground, I’m gonna put you down.”  Urban gangster meeting old school cowboy.  Brand new but aged and weathered, like a ridden hard and cracked leather saddle.  Somehow, it all works.

Other standout tracks are the bust-up-a-bar-and-break-your-face-with-brass-knuckle Harley rap of “I Go Hard.”  Really dig the contrast of the fluid rap with the more languid old-country chorus vocals.  “Big Branch,” also deserves mention, first because Tomasia takes over the rap from T.O.N.E-Z, but mainly for the story she weaves of life in the coal mining towns of West Virginia, black lung, death in the mine, and blowing your hands off in a meth lab.  Powerful.

What makes the album work so flawlessly is the blend.  Neither the rap nor the bluegrass take over, they simply mesh perfectly creating a cowboy-outlaw rap that’s not like anything I’d heard before.  It’ ain’t hard rock, but it still will make my Top 10 for the year.  If you dig outlaw country, dusty gritty bars, southern rock and some massive beats, don’t miss this.  It really is lightning on the strings and thunder on the mic.

--Racer


Buy here: Lightning On The Strings, Thunder On The Mic (Amazon MP3 Exclusive) [Explicit]

Deftones - Covers

Ahh!! Deftones!! My favorite band in the whole wide musically diverse World. Deftones have been my favorite band since I was in high school. High School was many years ago, almost 10 years ago to be exact. To me they can do no wrong…except maybe an album with just cover songs. Hey I love covers but they usually are not done well…this is not the case with Deftones Covers. Deftones put their spin on 11 classic and underground gems from years gone by.

The opening track to Covers is well, a cover song of  The Cars “Drive”. Chino Moreno’s vocals add a certain something to this already awesome song. Instrumentally the song sounds just as it did oh those may years ago with an added electronic vibe from their resident DJ. Chino’s already emotional take on vocals make you want to feel for him as he pours his heart out to the one that got away.

Covers also contains “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” originally done by another one of my favorite bands The Smiths. Throughout the years Chino and the rest of Deftones have stated that they were heavily influenced by 80’s pop and goth, namely The Smiths and The Cure. “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” is done perfectly. Again with the aid of Moreno’s unique vocal style make this song new again.

Covers also contains tracks originally done by Sade, Duran Duran, Japan, and Lynard Skynard to name a few. My favorite cover is Jawbox’s “Savory”. A down tempo, gloomy , alternative jam. Deftones pay homage to Jawbox’s post punk stylings and will hopefully open them up to a new audience.

Overall, Covers is solid. Songs that inspired and shaped who the Deftones are.

Upon writing this review I wanted to note that bassist Chi Cheng is still in a coma after his accident back in November or 2008. Godspeed Chi!

Covers was originally released on Record Store Day 2011...which makes it a little hard to find, as it was a vinyl only release. However the album is easily found as a digital download…hunt and you will find it. Half of the covers were previously released as B-Sides on the Deftones album, B-Sides and Rarities.

-Cicatriz

Ripple Music Invades Grip of Delusion Radio!

Black Light Revolution for 6-18-2011

June 19, 2011 bossheathen

Keepin’ It Fresh!

Thanks to: Ripple Music, Vulture, Otis Reaper, Tricorn Rock, Kingsnake Philadelphia and Frost Hammer for submitting songs!  You should submit songs to: GripODR@gmail.com !

1. -(16)- – Thiothixene (Re-recorded Version) (4:07) 2. Poobah – Rock n’ Roll (3:48) 3. Mighty High – Don’t Panic, It’s Organic (3:41) 4. Grifter – Small Man Syndrome (2:32) 5. Sun Gods In Exile – Over My Broken Bones (4:46) 6. Stone Axe – Nightwolf (4:32) 7. Khann – The Gate (4:23) 8. The Engineer – Starving Artist (4:15) 9. Birch Hill Dam – Colossus (5:16) 10. U.S. Christmas – The Scalphunters (5:42) 11. Alunah – Living Fast in an Ancient Land (6:43) 12. Frost Hammer – Master of Weapon (4:27) 13. Tricorn – Give Me Some More (4:11) 14. Black Rainbows – Babylon (4:27) 15. Zeke – Chinatown (1:37) 16. Otis Reaper – Optimator (3:29) 17. Fister – Santabbath (5:41) 18. Vulture – Prick of Misery (6:09) 19. EyeHateGod – Dixie Whiskey (2:55) 20. Cherubs – Baby Huey (3:36) 21. The Lemmings – Blue Mountain (4:04) 22. Danko Jones – When Will I See You (3:27) 23. Kingsnake – Dying Working Man (3:25) 24. BOSS 302 – No Overdose (5:18) 25. Struck By Lightning – False Hope (3:30) 26. Obiat – Angry Water (4:10) 27. Capricorn – Hello Strawberry Skies (2:54) 28. Avernal – Green Machine (3:49) 29. Blind Dog – Keep Up The Gloss (3:46) 30. Dala Sun – I Have a Better Way (3:54) 31. Black Sabbath – Supernaut (4:41) 32. Tona – Red Cylinder (3:20) 33. Deathbeds – No Funeral (3:03) 34. Electric Magma – Tokener (2:01) 35. Apehanger – Put The Skin On It (4:54) 36. Lento – Hadrons (5:14) 37. Corrosion Of Conformity – Stone Breaker (5:16) 38. Solace – The Disillusioned Prophet (6:59)

http://www.steamingheathen.com/delusion/2011/06/19/black-light-revolution-for-6-18-2011/