Howlin’ Wolf: Smokestack Lighting/The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 (Review)

Every form of guitar based rock music, from metal to alt-rock, owes its existence to the Chicago bluesmen of the mid-20^th Century, and Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett) was one of the Chicago blues’ biggest and most influential names. A hulking figure with an alternatingly booming and scratching voice (that would later be emulated and popularized by the legendary DJ of the nascent rock and roll era, Wolfman Jack), and whose guitar player, Hubert Sumlin, would inspire everyone from Eric Clapton to Jeff Beck to Jimmy Page to Jack White, Howlin’ Wolf was truly a legend amongst the many legendary blue guitarists and singers that came out of Chicago during 1950s. Over the years Howlin’ Wolf’s recordings have been packaged and repackaged over and over to varying quality and results. With the release of Howlin’ Wolf: Smokestack Lighting/ The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 though, anyone with an interest in or love of this long gone, but never forgotten, legend finally has one definitive collection of Wolf’s masterworks at their fingertips.

Soundgarden: Live to Rise (Review)

Original grunge pioneers Soundgarden are back with their first new music since 1997. Unfortunately, it’s only one song, and it’s for a mega Hollywood blockbuster’s soundtrack, but there’s no denying that “Live to Rise” is something that this Gen X’er has been dying to hear. So, without further ado…has the wait been worth it?

Garbage: Blood for Poppies (Review)

1990s alt rockers Garbage are back with the first release off of their highly anticipated album Not Your Kind of People (due May 15^th). Garbage is definitely not your kind of people (or music) if you like the regurgitated and processed pop, watered down trip hop, and formulaic rock that dominates Top 40 these days. Even though at their height (and introduction actually) Garbage wasn’t very alt anything and many decried legendary producer Butch Vig’s project as a watered down NIN rip off with a sexy and trashy sounding and looking alterna-chick for a front man (uh..woman), but then again who in the ‘90s wasn’t compared to Trent Reznor if they employed any type of electronic/industrial sound in their music? Garbage was one of the most unique sounding rock acts that hit the airwaves nearly twenty years ago, and still are today. In fact, no one sounds like them right now. Perhaps an injection of “NIN rip offs with a sexy chick singer” is just what “modern rock” needs.  

The Decemberists: We All Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 4.11-8.11) (Review)

The Decemberists, makers of rock and roll folk for English majors and inheritors of 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M.’s ageing fans, finally release their first live album. It’s a collection of songs played live during their 2011 tour and is comprised of a generous cross section of their work. Old classics flow well with new tracks. Their most recent release, The King is Dead, showcased their evolving sound’s affinity for old R.E.M. (Peter Buck guest guitar played on several tracks in fact), and growing interest in Appalachian and Americana sounds. In fact, their sound would so much conjure misty Appalachian coal mine hills that they would end up being one of the biggest names to contribute a track to The Hunger Games (Songs from District 12 and Beyond) Soundtrack. (Much of The Hunger Games takes place in Appalachia, the home region of its protagonist Katniss Everdeen). We All Raise Our Voices to the Air is a great snapshot of The Decemberists tight musicianship and solid live delivery of a swath of their songs whose intricate arrangements translate well to a live setting. 

Tribes: Baby (Review)

When the Tribes’ Johnny Lloyd sings “Oh no stranger you’re just like me, these things happen we were children in the mid 90’s” during “We Were Children” off of their debut album Baby, one gets the feeling that he ironically really means what he’s saying. If there is to be a full on re-visitation, but hopefully not a full on regurgitation, of 90s rock, there really could be worse bands than Tribes involved. Tribes appears to be destined to rise to the level of Silversun Pickups and The Joy Formidable, thusly forming a trio of the most high profile, and sonically appealing, bands that ape everything 1990s, yet somehow keep it fresh enough to not sound boring. Silversun Pickups got the Smashing Pumpkins covered. The Joy Formidable got everything from Hole to PJ Harvey covered. And while we’re still waiting on someone to step up and get the Alice in Chains thru Soundgarden section covered, Tribes seems to have everything else from Nirvana-lite to The Lemonheads under wraps. Oddly though, to anyone really paying any real attention to Tribes’ sound will discover that they really are just a more marketable version of Ash, Ireland and alt-rock’s most underrated and overlooked band of the past twenty years. Yes, they’ve been around just about that long, and it’s a shame that a band like Tribes, which cites their influence as The Pixies, Nirvana, and R.E.M. but really doesn’t sound like any of them, gets the credit for a sound that Ash has been pumping out for years. Oh well, that’s rock life, and there’s no point in bewailing it. Just remember, as great as Tribes are, and they are pretty great, there’re always others who came before and didn’t quite make it as big, but back to Tribes’ brilliant debut album, Baby…

St. Patrick’s Day Rock(s)

It’s that time of year again. St. Patrick’s Day is upon us and this year it’s on a Saturday. Always a great excuse for all of us to lay claim to that, however insignificant, Irish-Celtic heritage we all wish we had (if we don’t already), and drink gallons of Guinness, wear green, and rock out to some Irish tinged rock music. Two bands come to mind most specifically, to me at least, when I think of a suitable playlist for St. Paddy’s Day, even though these two are just a small sampling of all the great Irish or Celt-Rock bands out there. 

Bruce Springsteen: The Brendan O’Brien Albums

Brendan O’Brien was to Bruce Springsteen what Rick Rubin was to Johnny Cash. This is not an exaggeration. During the 1990s, The Boss’ album sales were floundering. His music was also suffering in popularity, respectability, and, worst of all, in relevancy. Yeah, he won an Oscar for “Streets of Philadelphia” written for the Philadelphia soundtrack, and his solo work still stood the test of time as populist rock and roll classics, but he wasn’t gaining many new fans. More accurately, Springsteen’s songs weren’t getting much attention as they sounded dated compared to the popular rock music of the time, namely Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and the rest. Springsteen’s songs were on the same level of intelligence and complexity of structure and lyric as these guys’ songs (albeit not exactly in the same subgenre of rock), they just didn’t really sound like these guys’ songs. Enter Brendan O’Brien.