After 456 episodes some of you are still reading what I write. Thank you.
Mark Knopfler has one of the most distinctive guitar tones in modern music. He released the upcoming song only a few days ago. When it started I was getting ready to be bored, after all, it's been a while since Mark did anything particularly upbeat. I was wrong however, this is a really good tune and it grows on you. It's a portrait of a man doing what he likes best and obviously enjoying it. Good tune, fun clip.
Mark Knopfler - Good On You Son - https://youtu.be/JIBCHh-fMUE
For those following along with the Weezer / Toto love fest, there's now a video clip for Weezer's version of "Africa"...including Weird Al Yankovic!
Weezer - Africa - https://youtu.be/mk5Dwg5zm2U
Speaking of Toto, if their particular brand of soft rock is your thing then get ready as they head down under in very early January 2019. Tickets are just shy of $100 which is pretty reasonable in comparison to a lot of big shows these days. Almost worth the price of admission just to see Steve Lukather play live; he is an amazing guitarist.
I had an excellent email conversation with DJ DJ and DJ Dr this week (thanks gents). It was all about which five iconic bands you'd like to see including where and when. The catch was that if you'd seen them already then they weren't eligible. Anyhoo, I had a long hard think about this. My list included Tom Petty, Judas Priest, Dio and U2. All for different reasons. The fifth was KISS. I remember when they came to Wellington, New Zealand on their "Unmasked" World Tour. It was 1980 so I was only 9 but KISS fever was well and truly alive. I'm not sure I actually knew anyone who went but they were certainly the talk of the town.
KISS - Detroit Rock City (live 1980 in Auckland, NZ) - https://youtu.be/ntuA2yM1Yo0
I don't play U2 very much. Maybe I overdosed on them in the late 80s and early 90s. Or perhaps I just don't like their more recent stuff all that much. I remain a huge fan of their albums "The Joshua Tree" as well as "Rattle and Hum" and consider them essential listening for people interested in different ways to use an electric guitar. When I was playing with Junk Sculpture sometimes George would shout out to me, "...OK Rob, play the blues..." It always made me feel good because it's taken from one of my favourite U2 songs.
U2 - Silver and Gold (live) - https://youtu.be/1k8XKahlUA8
Some bands re-release their old stuff having had it remastered, remixed or just packaged with some b-sides and outtakes. Not, Mike Muir. He gets his band, Suicidal Tendencies, to re-record some of their old stuff. He's done it with their first album and now with one of his solo albums. The solo album is called "Lost My Brain (Once Again)" and the re-recording with ST as the artist is called "STill Cyco Punk After All These Years". I almost skipped the re-recording because, really, the original is pretty good. But the next track slipped into my Spotify playlist and really, it's pretty good. Definitely the upbeat, skate punk sound that ST are famous for.
Suicidal Tendencies - All Kinda Crazy - https://youtu.be/snCtp6QGceI
My old Eko Ranger acoustic guitar has come back from getting the love it deserved. The sound difference is amazing. It projects more and has a bit more "oomph" in the mid to low end. Well that's what I think and it feels great to play again. Maybe I'll make good use of the lovely microphone that DJ Guz loaned me and do a spot of recording with it in the near future. I think I've finally found another song that I can sing in tune so the EP is almost there! I'll keep that under wraps for now in case it turns out to be a shocker when I record it.
John Hiatt - Perfectly Good Guitar (live) - https://youtu.be/pzeoLe6nSrU
Paul Simon is retiring from touring apparently. So are Elton John and KISS. I'll believe KISS retiring when I see it! Sir Elton is going out with a bang though, three hundred concerts over about three years! At this stage though I'm starting to think that the Rolling Stones will outlast me. It's quite interesting to see which singers manage to look after and hang onto a decent singing voice after a lot of years. Paul Stanley (KISS) said this week that he was working to get his voice in as good condition as he could for the farewell tour. He also said that if you want to hear him sing as he did on KISS Alive (1975) then you should play the album. Which is amusing as we all know very little of that album is actually live. But Paul makes a good point. Anyway, I had a think about singers and a bit of a listen to live footage that I didn't think had been overdubbed. This guy still has an amazing set of pipes on him...
Aerosmith - Dream On (live 2017) - https://youtu.be/qFMUFN-JIdU
If anyone is interested, I've clicked over 10,000km on the bike so far this year. The 13,000km goal is looking quite reachable even with hill (hell) month about to start.
Slade - Mama Weer All Crazy Now - https://youtu.be/RPTk5poAa1c
I've had a bit of a soft spot for Lily Allen's music for a few years now. She's often brutally honest as well as being amusing and I really like her voice. She's got a new album called "No Shame". This track caught my ear as a result of being on radio Triple J. Given that I don't listen to that station much anymore (Double J is more my thing) I was glad to have stumbled across it.
Lily Allen - Family Man (live JJJ like a version 2018) - https://youtu.be/vWipLLZjS94
Tom Petty's "American Treasure" deluxe boxset is now available on Spotify so I guess that means a physical copy can now be purchased as well. Sixty-three tracks and and just over four hours of music. I'll dig deep into it in the coming weeks and report back. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers is one of the iconic gigs I mentioned earlier. In 2012 they played at The Royal Albert Hall in London and my mate Garry went to see them. Garry died a few months later and Tom Petty songs always remind me of him and make me smile about the crazy music related emails we used to send non-stop.
Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks - The Apartment Song (demo 1984) - https://youtu.be/vkKPklG2QVE
Another week, another swag of tunes and no political commentary. I've given up on that as it's just a series of face palm moments. They're all nuts. Stary tuned in coming weeks as the Beatles "White Album" 50th anniversary approaches and no doubt there will be some tasty release to go with that. We'll also take a quick look at some NWOBHM (Google it).
Cheers,
Rob
Doesn't mean I'm lazy
Just because you're going forwards
Doesn't mean I'm going backwards ", To Have and to Have Not, Billy Bragg, 1983
No comments:
Post a Comment