In an
effort to jazz up this weekly missive and appeal to a broader audience I’ve
taken the family on the road. Not so much in the Jack Kerouac or Woody Guthrie
sense but who knows, a different locale may inspire me. Or you might get the
same old left leaning rock ‘n’ roll nonsense as always. Read on and find out!
Australia
is a big place. People from other countries often don’t get it. I remember my
Granny visiting from Scotland and thinking that she might pop up from where we
lived in country Victoria to Lithgow to visit some friends. That’s a 980km trip
or 10 ½ hours of solid driving. And really that’s not a great distance here. I
think they went for a bit longer than just for lunch!
What is
different is the state of roads (and driving skills) from state to state. In
the trip we’ve just done we went from the ACT, through New South Wales to
Victoria. And the state of the roads got better and better as we went on. The
courtesy of the local drivers was the inverse interestingly enough.
Tomorrow
we’ll be at a wedding in arguably Australia’s surfing capital of Torquay. Angus
is convinced he’ll be in the water at some stage.
On to the
music now I think.
Tex Perkins
and his band have a new album out. I stumbled across a (legal) streaming
pre-release of it during the week. I’ll probably get a few backs up by saying
that whilst I really enjoyed seeing The Cruel Sea (one of his previous bands)
live that their albums never did much for me as a whole. This new platter
certainly had me coming back for a second listen to it’s really worth a go in
my opinion.
Tex Perkins
and the Dark Horses – Everyone’s Alone - http://themusic.com.au/listen/all/2012/10/30/tex-perkins-and-the-dark-horses-everyones-alone/
Ry Cooder
is a bonafide guitar legend. While most people have heard him because he played
the slide guitar parts in the movie “Crossroads” there is so much more to his
discography. I got a CD from a magazine that had this next track on it. It is
taken from a new album “Election Special” which Uncut Magazine described as,
“an impassioned screed against the dumbing down of America” (vol. 184, Sep
2012). Aaarrgggh! The album must be too new for anything from it to be on YouTube –
bugger. But look out for it soon, I’ll keep checking.
Ry Cooder –
Vigilante Man – http://youtu.be/x4KmbUCwkyE
On the way
here we passed a couple of iconic Australian locations. Most notably the “Dog
on the Tuckerbox” which is of course, 5 miles from Gundagai. And then Glenrowan,
scene of Ned Kelly’s last stand. There is something rather amusing about a road
sign that exclaims, “Dog on Tuckerbox, next left”!
Redgum –
Poor Ned – http://youtu.be/x6SllcxLqNw
Since we’re
having protest style songs, here’s a band I love that I haven’t played for a
month or two. Mainly because I was hoping you’d all rushed out and bought their
debut album. But just in case, here’s a slower number for you…
Vintage
Trouble – Not Alright By Me – http://youtu.be/dPg3RQ_XrbI
I think
I’ll finish, for a change, with three tracks from one band. Although this is a
“super-group” they don’t seem to be getting much airplay down here and I think
that’s a shame. I guess commercial radio would rather play stuff from their
other bands and youth radio is much too cool to play tunes by some older guys
rocking out. Chickenfoot is the name of the band and they have Sammy Hagar
(ex-Montrose,ex- Van Halen) on vocals, Michael Anthony (ex-Van Halen) on bass,
Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums and guitar hero Joe Satriani. They’ve released two albums of fairly straight
ahead rock music. But if you listen more closely there’s some pretty cool
lyrics to top of the very polished musicianship. Try it out folks; catchy
melodies abound with a great beat.
Chickenfoot
– My Kinda Girl – http://youtu.be/c3zVa00N9gQ
Chickenfoot
– Three & A Half Letters – http://youtu.be/oUYxfI8Ovwg
Chickenfoot
– Dubai Blues - http://youtu.be/tuhH4R-Ueho
That’s it
folks! Have a great weekend.
DJ
Travelling Rob
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