MetaFilter posts tagged with rock and Punk

Now I Wanna Be Your Insightful, Respectable Rock Icon

Jon_Evil — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:57:42 -0800

You wouldn't expect Iggy Pop to be the poster boy for rock stars who age gracefully, but he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it. At the age of 62, he's released Preliminaires, an album steeped in French Literature and containing jazz standards, hardscrabble blues, and the Louis-Armstrong-meets-Tom-Waits hit, King of the Dogs. NPR's Fresh Air has this interview with a thoughtful, avuncular Iggy Pop

Ron Asheton, R.I.P.

Dr-Baa — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:17:02 -0800

Ron Asheton, influential guitarist and bassist for The Stooges and Destroy All Monsters, has passed away at age 60.

Punkcast

Kattullus — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:00:52 -0800

Punkcast is a long running series of videos of live underground music in NYC shot by Joly MacFie. Each video is usually one song. The Internet Archive hosts its videos and offers downloads in a variety of formats. MacFie also has a YouTube channel with 480 videos and a video podcast [iTunes link, feedburner link]. Here are a few bands that caught my fancy: The Icicles and The Besties, The Slits (1, 2 ), Andrew W. K., Oneida (1, 2), The Long Blondes, The Gossip, Acid Mothers Temple & Cosmic Inferno, Art Brut, Be Your Own Pet, Cansei de Ser Sexy, Lesbians on Ecstasy, The Fall, Fred Frith, Rose Melberg and Jennifer O'Connor, The Horrors, The Homosexuals, Bat for Lashes, Radio 4 and Teddybears, Kimya Dawson and Tiny Masters of Today, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Nikki Sudden.

FUN FUN FUN

nola — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:22:59 -0800

30 seconds over Tokyo is a song that is both unpretentious and epic at the same time. Anticipation mixed up with fear, flying, crashing, burning. Nevermind just give it a listen 30 seconds over Tokyo. Rocket from the Tombs, a nasty bit of rock history. Get out a shovel and exhume it's remains. Ain't if fun? I can only imagine what it would have been like to see these guys live.

The 20th Anniversary of Suffer

milquetoast — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:09:43 -0800

The Cornell Evolution Project, which polls prominent evolutionary scientists about their religious beliefs, is part of a PhD thesis by evolutionary paleontologist and UCLA lecturer Greg Graffin. Mr. Graffin is also the lead singer of a band named Bad Religion, whose influential album Suffer turns 20 years old this week. Though Suffer never charted, it became wildly popular in Southern California and helped to define the late 80's/ early 90's west coast sound -- a sound which pervades the rock and/or roll scene even today. Via YouTube, here are some live performances from 1988 - 1991: You Are (The Government) || 1000 More Fools || How Much Is Enough? || When? || Give You Nothing || Land of Competition || Forbidden Beat || Best for You || Suffer || Delirium of Disorder || Part II (The Numbers Game) || What Can You Do? || Do What You Want || Part IV (The Index Fossil) || Pessimistic Lines

The Ramones like you've never seen them before.

Afroblanco — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:36:34 -0800

People have made some awesome animated videos for Ramones songs, and have uploaded them to Youtube for our viewing pleasure. I Don't Wanna Go To The Basement is probably my favorite. Commando comes in close second. Ramones as legos playing Spiderman wins on sheer novelty. The papercut animation in this video for Blitzkreig Bop is definitely worth a look. Finally, this snippet of the claymation Ramones playing Judy is a Punk is awesome, if painfully short. See the rest here.

Will Rigby recounts meeting some pre-indie rock heroes.

celerystick — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:31:52 -0800

A founding father of DIY indie rock, Will Rigby recounts the pilgrimages to locate underground rock legends Alex Chilton, (during his wry Americana deconstructo anarchy phase), and the 'McCartney' to Chilton's Big Star 'Lennon', the Brydsian Chris Bell. Blogs on bands may not seem to rate but cats with these sensibilities, unlike today, seemed incredibly uncommon then . Also mentioned, the Dbs, Little Diesel, and Mitch Easter. Free Mp3s of the rare 45s included.

RIP: Killing Joke's Paul Raven

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:11:06 -0800

Paul Raven, bassist of seminal industrial post-punk outfit Killing Joke, has died after suffering from a heart attack at his home in Geneva, Switzerland.

Nick Cave, the Black Crow King, is fifty today

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:59:54 -0800

NickCaveFilter: Fifty years ago this very day, Nicholas Edward Cave [previously] crawled from the womb and started to plot. At 16 he formed his first band which evolved quickly into the Boys Next Door [Shivers]. This in turn mutated into the Birthday Party (1980) who terrorised the post-punk soundscape in Australia and the UK [Release the Bats | Nick the Stripper]. The Birthday Party relocated to England and in 1984 the band imploded in an orgy of drugs and booze. Shortly after Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were born [The Ship Song - video & solo live | The Mercy Seat - video & live | Where the Wild Roses Grow], and 23 years and 11 studio albums later (not to mention a best selling book, a great screenplay, some acting and several soundtrack projects) he is still going strong. But, instead of sitting on his musical laurels he decided to get back to basics and, in 2006, grew a huge moustache and formed Grinderman – a four piece with a primeval hybrid Birthday Party/Bad Seeds sound [No Pussy Blues | Honey Bee]. Fellow Mefites, I ask you to raise a glass to Mr. Cave… And, especially if you are not familiar to his work, don’t forget to “look inside” for my primer on the enigma that is Nick Cave, one of the finest song-writers on the face of this miserable planet. The Boys Next Door released a couple of singles and an album, Door, Door (1979) [although the early Birthday Party singles and debut LP were originally credited to the Boys Next Door]. Not much remains except for the LP (re-released on CD), the promo video for the single Shivers, an interview and one decent live recording (1977). The Birthday Party were a tour de force, fuelled primarily by booze and drugs. They made three stunning LPs, the eponymous Birthday Party (later re-released with two singles as Hee-Haw ), Prayers on Fire and Junkyard. The band imploded in 1984 with Mick Harvey leaving the band temporarily. Check out: Junkyard, Sonny’s Burning, Deep in the Woods [discography]. (Mick Harvey gets an honourable mention as he is ever present in Nick Cave’s music, 24 years to date, playing drums, bass, guitar and keys at diferent times. He has also release several critically acclaimed solo LPs.) Cave re-surfaced straight away with Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson and Blixa Bargeld as the Bad Seeds. (Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubauten also gets an honourable mention, playing guitar with the Bad Seeds from 1984 to 2003.) The Bad Seeds hit hard with From Her to Eternity (1984), taking up the primeval growl where the final Birthday Party EPs left off [ From Her to Eternity | I Put a Spell On You]. They also released a cover of In the Ghetto. (Elvis and Johnny Cash are strong influences in Cave’s music, along with John Lee Hooker, the Stooges and Nina Simone.) They followed this with The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), with a more laid back, bluesy edge (although Cave dislikes this being referred to as bluesy) [ Tupelo | Wanted Man]. 1986 saw two LP releases: Kicking Against the Pricks (an LP of cover versions, including Hey, Joe) and Your Funeral, My Trial (a really dark LP with a dense sound) [The Carny, featured in Wim Wenders “Wings of Desire”, and also Scum, for the journos] [Interview] 1988 saw Tender Prey released (selfIndulganceFilter: my personal favourite, along with Henry’s Dream). The album has a fantastic Elvis-esque sleeve and contains The Mercy Seat (widely regarded as Cave’s signature tune and played at most of his shows since 1988, and covered by Johnny Cash) [Deanna | Mercy]. Cave, Bargeld and Harvey scored the soundtrack to Ghosts… Of the Civil Dead, in which Cave acted as well as co-writing the screenplay. The Good Son [1990] was Cave's first release after kicking his heroin addiction, and he produced his most accessible music to date. Songs such as the Weeping Song saw Cave attract a new audience with a mellower sound [Jack the Ripper]. In 1991 a road movie filmed in B/W on Cine 8 called The Road To God Knows Where was released. Henry’s Dream (1992) is an intense LP [Straight to You | I Had a Dream, Joe] which is captured vividly in their Live at the Paradiso video. 1994 saw Let Love In [Red Right Hand], and in 1995 Cave dueted with Kylie Minogue on Where the Wild Roses Grow. [Written interview]. This single was included on Murder Ballads (1996) [Stagger Lee], which also included Henry Lee (with PJ Harvey). He also rejected his MTV Award. 1998 saw the release of The Boatman’s Call - a really beautiful, chilled piano led LP [Into My Arms | Lime Tree Arbour | Far From Me | People Ain’t No Good ]. Cave’s debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel was released in 1999. In 2000 he released Secret Life of the Love Song & The Flesh Made Word – two philosophical lectures [transcript]. 2001 saw the mellow No More Shall We Part released [God is in the House | Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow], followed in 2003 by Nocturama (not their finest, best left alone) The double LP Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus was released in 2004. A truly beautiful LP, characterised by a lush production (and featuring members of The London Community Gospel Choir) [Nature Boy | Breathless | Abbatoir Blues | Oh My Lord]. The film The Proposition was released in 2005 (a gritty Western, set in Australia) and as well as writing the screenplay, he and Warren Ellis also recorded the soundtrack. 2006 saw Cave form Grinderman, a raw, stripped down four piece recording and mixing their debut (Grinderman, 2007) in 12 days [Grinderman | Electric Alice | interview]. Cave is joined by Martyn P. Casey, Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos – all from the Bad Seeds. Even at 49 Cave was kicking against the pricks. Their debut live performance was at the All Tomorrows Parties festival (2007) and... (selfIndulganceFilter:) I was there! [And finally... Other Cave YouTube Interviews, and other performances: John the Revelator, I feel so Good, Mack the Knife]

The Punk Years

kolophon — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:24:19 -0800

The Punk Years, "A definitive history of the music that shook the world, looking at the origins and development of the punk rock movement as a social, historical, political and musical force. Achieved a record audience for Play UK on Saturday July 13th 2002." Parts 1: Wham Bam Thank You Glam [1,2,3] | 2: Year Zero [1,2,3] | 3: 1977 Never Get To Heaven [1,2,3] | 4: Take Three Chords [1,2,3] | 5: A Riot Of Your Own [1,2,3] | 6: Typical Girls [1,2,3] | 7: Ridicule Is Nothing To Be Scared Of [1,2,3] | 8: Punx Not Dead [1,2,3] | 9: Independents Days [1,2,3] | 10: California Uber Alles [1,2,3]. (via)

When they were young.

bardic — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 02:25:15 -0800

"Punk rock today is like Happy Days or Civil War re-enactment.” LA Weekly is sponsoring "14 and Shooting," an exhibit of west coast punk photos taken by Jennifer Finch, former bassist for L7.

CBGB is closing.

languagehat — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:48:50 -0800

CBGB is closing at the end of the month. Yeah, newsfilter, NYCfilter, say what you will, and the club hasn't "mattered" in decades, but anyone who cares about punk rock will feel the pang. This should probably have been posted by jonmc, but I wanted to do it so I could highlight this excellent piece by Paul Collins; besides the inevitable "I played CBs" anecdote, there's some wonderful history of the site. [Quote inside.]

Long live punk.

fungible — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 14:23:40 -0800

Punk rock is dead. So now, along with Luna Lounge, Fez Under Time Cafe, and Tonic (previously discussed here), it looks like CBGB may get priced out of existence. What NYC landmark will be next? (Oh, and don't forget the Plaza.)

We Are The Members Of The Master Race, Got No Style And We Got No Grace...

jonmc — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 17:04:31 -0800

The Dictators. Even in this age of crate-digger archaeology, especially when it comes to the roots of punk rock, this band of Bronx miscreants is little known except to cognoscenti. The stream of punk most identified with The Ramones (unapologetically crude three-minute pop singles, pop culture obsessed, based around fun, what Tom Carson called "deadly serious kidding") began with these guys first three albums and lives on in the work of The Muffs, Nashville Pussy, The Supersuckers and countless others. A rock and roll treasure often overlooked.

Danzig gets his just desserts

fizz-ed — Thu, 15 Jul 2004 17:11:58 -0800

Danzig gets knocked out. Now, I know that most of you probably aren't big on violence, however, I find a little jolt of comfort in seeing Danzig dropped with one punch. It's like being back in high school and seeing a bully knocked out by a geek he'd been picking on. (NSFW - violence and language)

Jonathan Richman

y2karl — Mon, 27 Jan 2003 23:04:16 -0800

Ah, the world cries out for an updated Jonathan website. The Abominable Lesbian Vampire Cappuccino Bar in Cyberspace has withered on the vine, links almost all dead--damn, I should've copied that tab!--but some of the music's not firing blanks. The Jonathan Richman Project only posted one issue of their xerox zine--jeez, remember zines? Mail art? Man, those were the days--but they're nice enough to print Lester Bangs 1976 Creem diss of the Twerp King At The Summit. God, I remember reading that Bangs piece new and running out and buying The Modern Lovers, trusting as I did in his taste or maybe just his gonzo stylings? Little did I know...(inside)

Images, Reputations and Sounds of Patti Smith

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 30 Dec 2002 00:54:08 -0800

Is It Better To Look Marvellous Than To Sound Marvellous? Like The Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop and (controversially) David Bowie, Patti Smith, specially when photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe, looked way cooler than she sounded, imho. What other rock legends were more beautiful than the music they made? And, conversely, which artists' music was better than the image they projected?