Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Crushers - "Glory of the Day" (CD, Soyuz Music -2002)

Hi there. Not in a good mood, so right from the start I have to apologize my self to anyone that haven't got a reply yet by my side. I'm trying it but I'm not succeeding. I know this misanthropic cheer and when it gets me (thankfully not so often), makes a 'very difficult' person for someone to deal with but at least I know it (some people don't) and I'm warning public to not giving me any attention. This fuckin' situation, this collapsing society finally seems to come to an end... If you see anytime soon Greece on your TV screen in riot and our cities on fire don't get worry, THIS IS WHAT WE ALL NEED actually! Greece's the new 'Weimar democracy', a strange and outrageously experiment and if you haven't noticed it yet - I'm pretty sure you're gonna face it too quite soon...
Anyway, enough with that shit. I wasn't sure in what to post. Maybe some Strummer/Clash would be perfect for the occasion, but I'm parking this need when it's time for my Left-wing anger to come out, he-he! Looking through my CDs found this. And I must give credit to my friend Peris from Lost In Tyme for getting my attention to these cool Russians. The Kinks, the Hollies, the Who (of course!), the Troggs and the Animals are key influences for the Crushers, but the whole feel brings in mind a wild dimensioning American garage psych gang! I mean, this is a shit hot piece of wild rock & roll and came straight outta Moscow, who would have think it, right?! I'm definitely convinced that the Crushers some years from this moment gonna be treated like monsters of the garage genre for the 00s, believe me. Truly amazing combo!


Monday, October 22, 2012

Roky Erickson and the Aliens - "Mine Mine Mind / Bloody Hammer" (7inch, CBS - 1980)

Hi there. My good partner mailed me this the other day:
"Just got the Roky Erickson single shown below. I always thought 'Bloody Hammer' was his best song, as strong as the Elevators 'Roller Coaster' or the Stones 'Gimme Shelter' or anything from the Stooges LPs. Killer track, but I've always been disappointed by the mix found on LP or CD. Kinda loud but muddy. The single version has a much clearer mix, especially on the drums (which are buried on the LP mix), intro is slightly different and it lasts longer. I don't think it's available elsewhere. Play it loud!"
I always thought of these Aliens accompanied Roky records' as Elevators equals and quite (if not much) underestimated. So, who am I to disagree? Play loud then!

 

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chuck Berry - "The London Chuck Berry Sessions" (CD, Chess/MCA - 1989 ~ Original Release 1972)



"CHUCK BERRY'S GOTTA BE THE GREATEST THING THAT CAME ALONG, HE MADE THE GUITAR BEATS AND WROTE THE ALL TIME GREATEST SONGS, NOW DO YOU REMEMBER ALL THE GUYS THAT GAVE US  ROCK N' ROLL?"
 - BRIAN WILSON

"IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ROCK N' ROLL ANOTHER NAME, YOU MIGHT CALL IT CHUCK BERRY!"

 - JOHN LENNON


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCKSTER!!!



Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Flaming Stars - "London After Midnight - Singles, Rarities and Bar Room Floor-fillers 1995 - 2005" (CD, Big Beat - 2006)

This greasy haired wild bunch of Londoners should have been my fave band ever. I mean, the Flaming Stars are the only 'round the dark and fluid basements that for so many years are able to reflect so perfectly my moods, my influences in all aspects of what people think of as 'art'. They named their-selves probably after the amazing Elvis song (which along with 'Crawfish' belong to the all time faves WTS pantheon) blending brilliantly and uniquely twangy surf, outlaw hardcore country, southern fried Sun/Meteor rockabilly, straight ahead R&B with Rat Pack's brat class, 60s garages original feel, Bukowski oozed lyrics and the Peckinpah originated set up, in a lethal cocktail no real rock & roll admirer could or would like to resist!
Every coin has two sides they say and the Flaming Stars stamped theirs on the penny that has the Godfathers on the other. Forget the easy and for me totally out of place comparisons with the Tindersticks or the Bad Seeds. And if Cave's not that far from them, at least in frame - the Tindersticks look like some 'Brian Ferrys' to my eyes where the Flaming Stars are the Only Ones with Dean Martin on the mic or the Voidoids with Jarvis Cocker. No wonder for a band that had its roots on the Earls of Suave (a legendary outfit with ex-members by the Gallon Drunk, the Headcoats, the Cannibals and the Sting-Rays!).
What amazes me the most though are their guitar dual channeling arsenal. They were handy enough to combine Link Wray with Ennio Morricone and the glam days of  Lou Reed in a way that sounded at least natural to these ears. The creepy organ/piano was squinting with the one eye turned to Jerry Lee and the other to Human Expression's mournful melodies and the hypnotizing (in many cases) rhythms were in dept of the Velvets nonchalant drug addiction minus the art-faggotry element. Their singles and CDs had sleeves with a direct line/tribute to all the cool crime novels and sleazy paperbacks of the 50s (check the permanent link on the blog for Max's AMAZING book, 'Straight from the Fridge, Dad' - proceed without second thoughts!) and it was the main reason for starting buy them when they were a completely uknown act to me. The DRUNKEN night back to the late 90s Athens at An's basement wasn't just a memorable show (Max on the liners seems to have the same opinion as me) but a Dionysian celebration. Here's a perfect compilation, the way such releases should be done. I wonder if they're still around?

Buy it HERE

Pic taken from Ace records website


















Monday, October 1, 2012

The 13th Floor Elevators - "The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators - Original Stereo Mix" (LP, Inernational Artist - 1966)

Fuck fake ass psychedelia, SF late sixties hippie scene, peace, love and understanding! What the world (still) need's punk rock! In a time that bankers and religion leaders doing whatever the fuck they want, we 're not having the privilege of 'peace'. I live in a land that day by day all its social spar is collapsing in front of your eyes gloriously and swankily. Everything's for sale now (history, ethos, consciousness - the far right is growing rapidly and all this to the place that gave birth to democracy...) and you just don't have the right to remain in silence. Fuck your generation baby! And somehow all these shit are linked for me with the hippies. I mean, call me crazy you might be right, I never read for a 'leader' of today to admit he was part of the punk scene, but many for the opposite. I wish Joe Strummer to had an influence even a minor to some jerk up there but (naturally) he was not.
The Elevators were the only psychedelic band ever, all others were a bunch of lame ass imitators or some 'let's get some drugs and shag some chicks with a good reason' wankers. Period! OK Syd Barrett's Floyd were the European similar/twin but from there nothing else stands for psychedelic, at least for me (you see - I'm a very Democratic person, he-he!). And what seems crazy and weird to me still is the birthplace of this band. I guess Texas wasn't always the world center of obscurantists... And this is as groundbreaking as a record can be! Come on, you don't need me to tell you HOW IMPORTANT the Elevators were, right? A possessed bunch of acid punks, flushed on drugs and armed with the most dangerous rock & roll of their time. Roky was always a stoned murmuring James Brown in a mix with Dion and Syd Barrett and this album is the shocking ancestor of a generation about to come with 'dope, guns and fucking in the streets'. Thankfully Roky didn't had Syd's future. From time to time fed us with masterpieces like 'I Think of Demons' and 'Don't Slander Me' to quench our thirst. Anyway, what the WTS team has to offer is NOT the usual CD recently remastered version (or not) , but the old plastic grooved STEREO. I was never good at it so here's what Jean Philippe sent me along with the links:

"And FWIW, here's my 2 cents usual audiophile shit contribution (btw, what follows is also true for 'Easter Everywhere'):

As far as we know, the REAL original stereo mix of the 13th Elevators has never been reissued (even as a bootleg). In the late 70's, a slightly different mix was released by International Artist label. These LPs are known as 'Masterfonics' version (because that's what you can read in the dead wax). A good mix, but not as good as the true original stereo mix (some unnecessary echo/reverb was added), which has crystal clear high frequencies. Over the years, 'The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators' has been reissued countless times, unfortunately not from the original mix, but from a very poor copy made from Masterfonics LP. You can easily tell which is which: on Masterfonics LP, the intro of 'You're Gonna Miss Me' has some distortion, and the intro of 'Don't Fall Down' is missing a few notes. The same mix was used for the pricey 2012 vinyl box set 'Music Of The Spheres'. International Artists record label claimed their stereo version is 'a remastered version of the original stereo mix', but that's not true, as evidenced by the aforementioned flaws found on the Masterfonics version. The 2010 CD box set 'Sign Of The 3-Eyed Men', contains an alternate stereo mix, not the original mix. Frankly, those two box sets look incredibly cool, but are a major disappointment sound quality-wise.


The first pressing of 'The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators' is now very expensive and hard to find in good condition, but I'm lucky enough to have a very cool friend (JF) who owns a top mint copy –amongst many other Elevators rarities, such as the insanely rare French EP. So thank you JF, for allowing me to pick up this priceless LP from your collection to rip it for WTS readers pleasure.
"