Category Archives: Rock

Folk, Indie, Music, Music Video, New Release, Rock

Bombadil – So Fresh And So Clean…

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Remember the first time you heard something new and fresh to your ears?  I know when I did and after checking out Bombadil‘s Tarpits And Canyonlands on Ramseur Records I can say it happened all over again.  This Bolivian threesome really hints towards their label mates The Avett Brothers but is unique in their own and just has me wanting much more.

How unique you ask? How about a core of electric / acoustic guitars, bass, piano and drums and appearances by harmonica, xylophone, organ, synth, saxophone, trumpet, viola, charango, glockenspiel, accordion, recorder and even zampona… Yeah, almost like a folk rock Gogol Bordello.

Fans of folk and indie rock will be fans of Bombadil once they give them a chance.  Check out the video below or visit their MySpace page for a few extra tracks.

00's, Cleveland, Hip Hop, Music, Music Video, Rock

Street Sweeper Social Club (No it’s not Rage Against The Machine Part II)

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A while ago I heard that a couple of musicians I dig formed a band together and before I knew it they were the opening act on the 2009 NIN/JA Tour (Nine Inch Nails & Jane’s Addiction).  Sadly the tour never made it to Cleveland and I was unable to make it to the Pittsburgh show.  From what I heard the band ‘s performance turned a lot of heads to the folk that showed up early enough to catch their set.

The band I speak of is called Street Sweeper Social Club and features guitar effect guru Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and hip hop artist Boots Riley (The Coup).  It’s not Rage Against The Machine but does have some elements from the popular 90’s rock act.  Their debut self-titled album Street Sweeper Social Club was released over the summer.  I still have yet to fully check the album out but was able to hear some of their tunes via YouTube.

My verdict = kick ass.

Here’s a teaser of their upcoming video for “Promenade”:

Nice little “Kick Out The Jams” cover with some guy named Trent Reznor:

Folk, Good Reads, Indie, Music, Punk, Rock

Suburban Home Records Offers Mixtape For Free (Just Pay Shipping)

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I just had to share this with everyone.  I received an email from Virgil Dickerson, the man behind Suburban Home Records.  The email was sent out to everyone who has ever ordered from Suburban Home Records or Vinyl Collective.  Usually the email lets the music fans know what is new and good on their label but this time around I saw a more personal message from the label regarding downloading.

Sometimes I think people forget that downloading music from the internet for free hurts the artist that created that music.  It also hurts the record company trying to help them out.  Free is good, but is it really worth it to hurt the bands you are actually downloading?

Not all record labels out there are money sucking corporate bastards and not all bands make millions of dollars.  A lot of the labels out there struggle to do what they love and rely on the music lover to support the bands they love by actually buying their albums.  The same goes with the bands.  Virgil is one of those folk in the world who is a label owner and music lover.  What he wrote below says it best about the situation.  He also came up with a novel idea of making a mixtape to offer to the music lovers out there free of charge (you just pay for shipping).

Hi friends,

As 2009 comes closer and closer to its end and I think about the new year ahead, I find myself thinking about Suburban Home’s future and how I can adapt to the constant changes in the music industry. I recently read an artist’s commentary on their lack of CD sales and how their album has been illegally downloaded at least 60 times more than it has been purchased. I can think of very few industries that have to struggle to sell something that is actively and easily acquired for free. Had I, for example, started a restaurant, it would be hard to be successful if people could download my best dishes from the comfort of their home. As a record label owner for over 14 years, I have accepted that this is just how people acquire and distribute music.

Technology has made being a music fan so much easier and well, exciting. You couple that though with the number of releases that come out every week and the normal attention spans of music fans and it can be a pretty daunting task to get the attention of music fans that would be receptive to the music we release. If I had endless amounts of money, I could mount a marketing plan that could reach every music fan in the world 10 times over. I definitely don’t have that kind of money and if I did, I wouldn’t feel right beating people over the head with our music. I like the idea that people who discover our artists and become fans of our releases do so on a purely organic level and because they truly love the music we release. When I hear someone say that they value Suburban Home’s releases and look forward to what we put out next, it means the world to me. I am surprised that after 14 years of running a label, I still love the music I put out. I see many more successful labels releasing records that sell an insane amount of records and I often wonder if they actually love the albums they release. I can say with ease that if the release features a Suburban Home logo on the back, I love the album. I can only hope that the handfuls of people who discover our little, independent label, likes what we do enough to tell others about our artists and our releases. I can only hope that when our acts tour through your town, each time they come through a few more people come out and the acts can make enough money to do another tour. I can only hope that we can sell enough records to cover our expenses and to hopefully put out more records.

Inspired by a documentary on mixtapes and the cheap punk samplers that turned me onto new music, I made a mixtape. The mixtape is free, all you have to do is pay for shipping. We will send you 5 copies with the hope that you keep 1 and give 4 to friends. You can help us spread the word about our little label while also finding out about the music we love. I started this little record label because I love music and I love the idea of sharing music with my friends. I hope to make a new mixtape every 1 or 2 months which will feature Suburban Home artists along side some of my favorite non-Suburban Home artists. Give copies to friends, yousendit to others, post it on your blog, share it whatever manner you can. We may not have the biggest marketing budgets around, but I think we have enough friends through music who can help us spread the word about what we do.

Please also consider taking advantage of one of our 12 days of xmas sales. I think we have posted a lot of killer sales and if you ask me, the gift of music is a great gift for the holidays (even if it is for yourself). Some of our sales might find you with doubles of our releases, just give those doubles as gifts and keep everything else.

Be aware that the US Postal Service gets pretty slammed this time of year and I recommend ordering sooner than later and also encourage you to select Priority Mail or UPS for quicker shipping.

Thanks for reading my little blurb and thanks for supporting what we do.

Your friend through music,
Virgil Dickerson

Please visit Vinyl Collective to grab a copy (actually when you order you get 5 copies – 1 for you and 4 for your friends).  This is the perfect way to check out some new up and coming bands out there.

Just looking at the bands on the mix I think more than just punk rockers are going to like it…  Jut check it out below.  There is punk, indie, folk, and much more.  Just pay for shipping and it is yours.  Do it.

1 Tim Barry – Thing of the Past
2 Tim Barry – Shoulda Oughta
3 Tim Barry – Tacoma
4 Chuck Ragan – Don’t Say a Word
5 William Elliott Whitmore – Old Devils
6 Micah Schnabel – American Static
7 The Takers – Taker Easy
8 The Enablers – Whatever You Like (T.I. Cover)
9 Drive-By Truckers – Gravity’s Gone
10 Deer Tick – Straight into a Storm
11 Drag The River – Lost Angel Saloon
12 Josh Small – Fifteen Twenty Eye (demo)
13 Horse Feathers – Curs In the Weeds
14 Have Gun Will Travel – Salad Days
15 Joey Kneiser – Bruised Ribs
16 Portugal. The Man – People Say (Acoustic Version)
17 The Builders and The Butchers – Red Hands
18 Yesterday’s Ring – Quebec City Blues
19 Chad Price – Cursed
20 Lenny and the Piss Poor Boys – Lonely Days & Whiskey Nights
21 American War – Rhetoric
22 Jon Snodgrass – Wild One (Thin Lizzy Cover)
23 Lizzie Huffman – Tumblers and Tea
24 Langhorne Slim – I Love You, But Good Bye

(FYI Ohio people…American War is from Kent, OH and that kid is talented as hell!!!)

Cleveland, Live Shows, Music, Punk, Rap, Rock, Times Of Yore

Times Of Yore: The Bloodhound Gang – Use Your Fingers

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So during this edition of Times Of Yore I wanted to talk about a band that is still around and is still putting out CDs.  The band is without a doubt a mainstream act and many know them quite well.  The band I speak of is Pennsylvania’s Bloodhound Gang (BHG).  The comedic rap and rock mixing band has been a favorite of mine since the mid-nineties.

Sure everyone who knows the BHG is familiar with their hit tracks “Fire Water Burn” and “The Bad Touch”.  Both tracks were hits all over the radio and basically helped the band achieve attention (well before Bam Margera included them in his fun).  Where I am a fan of the albums that both songs appear on I actually would have to say that their debut full length album Use Your Fingers is my favorite.

Here is the part where I talk about that CD…

I found Use Your Fingers by pure accident.  I was at a Half Price Books with my pal Mike one day just looking for stuff to buy.  I remember I picked up a copy of the CD and just looked at it.  There was a hot looking lady on the cover in small clothing eating a chicken leg that grabbed most of my attention.  I looked at the rest of the CD and could not help but wonder to myself what in the hell I had in my hands. It looked like a punk rock CD of sorts and I decided it would be best to buy it before someone else did.

Without hesitation I purchased the CD but had to wait until I got home to listen to it seeing my car at the time lacked a CD player.  I remember though the moment I hit the play button on my trusty Sony Walkman (that I still have to this day) that I became an instant fan.  I had honestly not heard anything quite like it before.  It was hip hop but punk rock with lyrics out of this world not to mention comedian Rip Taylor provided the introduction.  Jimmy Pop, Evil Jared, Lupus, and Daddy Long Legs became heroes to my young ears.

I listened to the CD over and over and proclaimed them one of my favorite bands.  I would sing along daily to songs like “Legend In My Spare Time” and the “Pretty When I’m Drunk” as well as their cover of “Kids In America” which I still prefer over any version to this day.  I just loved the raunchiness of everything the band did from the clever lyrics and samples to the beats surrounding them.  Within weeks I had a copy of their debut release Dingleberry Haze EP in my hands.  I was a BHG fanatic.

Months later I saw a tiny add in Scene Magazine stating that the BHG was playing in town.  I was convinced it was going to sell out so I went out and bought two tickets, one for me and the other for Mike.  Boy was I in for a surprise…

I will never forget the night the Bloodhound Gang played the Grog Shop their first time.  We got there early so the place was not that full but after time passed we started to notice that not a lot of people showed up to the show.  Seriously there was like 8 people there including Mike and I…

The BHG took the stage and played like there was a full house.  Mind you that show was years ago so I could not tell you the set at all but I do remember Jimmy Pop singing on the bar at one time.  My other memory was when the band asked for volunteers to come up on stage for a contest.  For whatever reason I kept my hand down but Mike raised his and they asked the kid with the mohawk (Mike) to come on stage.  The game they played that night was a game of darts…on Evil Jared’s back.  There were like 3 or 4 other people playing along and one by one they would throw a dart into the human dart board.  Mike hit a bulls-eye.

I do not think the band was ready for that as the bulls-eye was drawn rather small on Evil Jared’s back but they still gave Mike a prize, a studded bracelet.  I was jealous and honestly I still am.  After the show the few of us who hung out got to talk to the band and joke around with them.  They were super cool and even gave us some stickers and temporary tattoos.

That night was one I will never fully forget.  Even if the outcome was horrible the BHG could care less and not even two years later they returned to the Grog Shop to a sold out crowd with Nerf Herder opening for them.  I remember that night too especially when the band pulled me on stage to sing a couple verses from “Fire Water Burn”.

Almost 15 years later I still listen to Use Your Fingers and sing along as I did when I was just discovered them.  I can not wait to see what they come up with next and even if they sell out the next venue they play in Cleveland I will always think back to the day when BHG played what seemed like more of a private show for me and my pal.

Akron, Hip Hop, Music, Rap, Review, Rock, The Awesome

Blakroc – Blakroc – CD Review

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I am still full from an amazing array of good eats and excited.  Of course we all know that today is supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year and there is not one part of me that wishes to engage in that stupid retail disaster.  I have no interest in waking up early and saving $20 on a junk TV or getting DVDs for $2.  I don’t wish to wait outside in the cold for the chance at getting a deal.  I’ll just surf the internet for my shopping needs when the Jesus Day comes a little close.

Black Friday can kiss my ass.

So if I am so bitter at this tragedy of a day what am I so excited about you ask?  That’s easy, Blakroc‘s debut self-titled album was released today.  What?  You have no idea what I am talking about?  Well of course I am going to explain a little more about this album that I have been anticipating for quite some time.

Blakroc is a project featuring Akron, Ohio’s blues/rock heroes The Black Keys plus hip-hop artists including Ludacris, Mos Def, the late-great Ol’ Dirty Bastard and other well known artists.  The combination of the music of Dan Auerbach and  Patrick Carney’s provided beats layered with the rap lyrics is just unbelievable.  To add to the exhilaration, The Black Key’s frontman Auerbach provides some of his own signing on a couple of tracks making for a truly matchless sound. 

So how exactly did The Black Keys get mixed up with hip hop?  Well apparently Damon Dash, co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records is a huge fan of the Keys and wanted to do something involving the duo and Jim Jones.  During that initial session Mos Def interrupted and wound up recording as well and Blakroc was formulated (Black Keys + Roc-A-Fella = Blakroc).  In eleven days there were eleven tracks recorded thus creating an album that could be compared to a Gorillaz-like jam sans the electronics and cartoon fantasyland idea.

Finally after hearing about this project for months it the hit shelves today (CD & LP) and I could not resist but grabbing a copy for myself.  After all I am a huge fan of The Black Keys and everything they do as well as have a high appreciation for hip hop so it’s easy to say I was excited.  Once I put that album on though I was in my own little glory just like the first time I heart the Judgment Night soundtrack.  It was something new and something unmarked in it’s own kind.  Blues/rock and rap?  Nice.
 
The first track “Coochie” floored me not just because it sounded so great but because my number one favorite rap artist Ol’ Dirty Bastard was rapping in his glory (still can’t believe it’s been five years since his passing).  Thanks to ODB being affiliated with Roc-A-Fella Records prior to his death there was some of his work readily available for Damon Dash and he put it to good use.  Featuring the ever easy to listen to Ludacris and ODB slinging out rhymes about one of their loves in life, this song set the bar high for my expectations for the rest of the album.

“On The Vista” followed with the same knockout as the first track thanks to the smooth flow of Mos Def and Auerbach’s amazing guitar playing.  NOE dominated on “Hard Times” with some nice R&B like back-up singing as well as the Keys doing their thing.  “Why Can’t I Forget” was a nice somber R&B turn featuring Nicole Wray.

As soon as Mos Def and Auerbach shared the mic on “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)” I was just astounded.  It was my favorite track on the album thanks to the high appeal of hearing Auerbach’s distinguished singing followed by sick flows from Mos Def as well as a few lines by Jim Jones.

“Hope Your Happy” was another highlight on the album to me with Nicole Wray providing more soul signing beside the infamous Q-Tip and Billy Danze.  Nicole Wray returns once again with NOE, almost sounding like Jay-Z, on the final track titled “Done Did It”.  I am really glad the album included her as she made some of the songs that much better to listen to.

My only complaint with this album was the lack of Mr. Roc-A-Fella himself – Jay-Z.  It’s not like he’s never done something like this before (anyone remember Linkin Park/Jay-Z).  Based upon what I heard on this album though I would not be shocked in the least bit if another album was already in the works.

You will like this album if you like things done different from the norm but with substance.  It’s a fresh new sound that was brought together with near perfection.  If you are a fan of hip-hop you will dig this album as well, but I can honestly say if you are only about the music The Black Keys push out on average this may not be your cup of tea.  It’s a blues rock experimental album in a sense but more so a hip-hop heavy project that completely did wonders to my ears.