Salt City Sinner

posted on 5/24/2013 by the Salt City Sinner  The 1980s saw the flourishing of punk music and the first major ska revival, both of which contributed to how awesome a band known as the Specials were.  The Specials were not a punk band, but brought punk attitude and energy (and a large portion of the fan base) to their take on Jamaican ska music, a precursor to reggae that the Specials breathed new life into. The Specials’ lead singer, Jerry Dammers, founded “2 Tone Records” in 1979, giving “2 Tone Ska” – a genre that combined pop and punk with ska – it’s name. What do the Specials have to do with French house giants Daft Punk, and more specifically, Daft Punk’s most recent album “Random Access Memories?” The answer to that lies in an interesting fact about Jerry Dammers and his view of the future of music. Alex Petridis from MOJO magazine   breaks down  what was going on in early 1980 during the recording of the Specials’ second album: Dammers was keen to...

posted on 10/22/2012 by the Salt City Sinner I like to while away the lonely hours of my days by occasionally (read: obsessively) listening to WNYC's wonderful program RadioLab ( here ). RadioLab featured a podcast in April called "The Loudest Miniature Fuzz" ( link ) about the music of Buke and Gase ( link ). Buke and Gass are Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez. Hailing from Brooklyn, the duo (who actually used to be a couple but are now strictly musical partners and friends) are notable for a few things. First off, the instruments they play. The name "Buke and Gase" comes from the two primary instruments they use: a modified six-string baritone ukulele (a "buke") and a guitar-bass hybrid (a "gase"). In addition, Sanchez stomps on a kick drum with an attached cymbal and Dyer shakes an anklet of bells in time to their music. This is pretty impressive considering the idiosyncratic time signatures they prefer, and the rapid changes in ...

Our merciless, cruel God occasionally throws us a twist so depraved, so delicious that it could not possibly come from fiction. May I present, in his own words, Republican Presidential Candidate and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman: "My hair was Rod Stewart shaggy. I wouldn't wear anything but super skinny jeans. I ended up leaving high school a bit short of graduation to play with a band called Wizard." NPR goes behind the music to uncover the sordid past of Wizard: A lot of the band's early gigs came at youth-oriented music "stomps," sponsored by the Mormon church. "We knew we couldn't sing certain songs, so we'd have to change the words to them," bass player Eric Malmquist said. "We'd play Eric Clapton's 'Cocaine.' But instead of singing 'cocaine,' which you probably wouldn't do in church, we'd change the word to propane." Unfortunately, Wizard's hard-rocking odes to clea...

They said it couldn't happen here. Ladies and gentlemen, Conway Twitty... В русском. (h/t  Yumeko Jenkins , who like Sookie Stackhouse is (SPOILER ALERT) probably part Faery 'cause she's just so damn great)

The BBC reports : Toxicology results have shown "no illegal substances" in Amy Winehouse's system at the time of her death, according to her family. They say tests indicate alcohol was present but it cannot yet be determined if it played a role in the singer's death last month. There *was* alcohol in her system, and note the emphasis on "illegal" drugs (implying that she did have prescription drugs, mixed with booze, in her system). Now, that said, I, along with just about everyone I know, jumped to a number of conclusions here that were wrong. I hope I learned a lesson about judging people and/or the nature of gossip from this - and at least we'll always have Winehouse's music.

Two covers I've heard recently that are amazing, stripped-down takes on the original: You're welcome.

Tonight (7/13/11) Peaceful Uprising will be hosting a music/performance event at their paint-stained, much-beloved warehouse - the "Goathead Preserve" - at 1361 S. Main. The line-up looks pretty snazzy, and includes my little sis Flora, who is a god-damned amazing singer/songwriter. $5, doors at six.

Once upon a time, I worked at a record store. Okay, scratch that - once upon a time, I worked at a few record stores sequentially. My early career trajectory was pretty sad, as it led from fast food chicken stand to a few barista jobs to a few record store jobs. I can now say, without apparent prejudice*, that working for Virgin was the high point of my record store goon experience. Every day was a hard retail day of slinging the goods, but we were well-informed, the management was fair and just, and we got to listen to decent music, and occasionally (on two occasions) I got to lose significant quantities of brain cells by sticking around while the floors were re-varnished. Let's just say that the closing shift called for individuals with a unique lifestyle and attitude, and overall we stuck together. Looking back on my experience there, a few things stick out - first of all, having a sedentary job now (one where I sit at a desk and stare at a computer for most of the day) is awful...

R.I.P., Peter Steele. I loved Type O Negative, and not in an ironic or snarky way. I'll miss the only band that can (at times) make the Melvins sound like a ska band.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are coming to the Urban Lounge tonight with Faun Fables. Doors are at nine, and it will cost you about $17. Get your sweet young asses to the show: