Cause & Effect : Pixies to Slowdive

This weeks #TBT is focused on a section of this Pitchfork documentary on the English shoegaze band Slowdive. The band discussed that one of their biggest hits was in their mind, very much an ode to The Pixies. (discussed at the 24:41 mark) 

The cause:

The effect (base line and dynamics):

Throwback Thursday: Doris

Swedish singer Doris Svensson, now 68 years old, released one hell of a Jazz (but not really) record in 1970. Did You give the World Some Love Today Baby was her second album and was a collaboration with Berndt Egerbladh (Jazz pianist, composer, television producer, and record label owner) at the EMI studios in Stockholm.

I discovered this record when record label Mr. Bongo re-released this album in the late '90s and in looking up the album this morning, I see the New York Times reviewed a track from this album by describing it as Hendrix backing Björk (the internet also tells me that Bjork is a fan of Doris)!

Such a powerhouse of a voice!

Check out Doris fronting Plums.

Throwback Thursday w/ a Purpose : X

It is MS Awareness Week and in tribute to the disease that took my mother's life, I have chosen the band X as member Exene Cervenka announced in 2009 her diagnosis of this often debilitating disease of the brain and central nervous system. In MS the immune system attacks the protective cover of nerve fibers that causes the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Over time, these nerves begin to deteriorate and can become permanently damaged causing a variety of symptoms including the inability to walk, use of arms, and major cognitive issues.

X is an American band that has been making music on and off since 1977. They feature a distinctive male/ female dueling vocals straddling the line between punk and roots Rock. Many thought at the time that a punk band could never cross over into the mainstream but X were among the first groundbreaking bands to do just that.

Throwback Thursday : A.C. Temple

Here is a little something I wrote about the band back in 2008.

Artist - A.C. Temple

Catalog
Songs of Praise 1987  - Further / Mute
Blowtorch - 1988 - Torso
Sourpuss - 1989 - Blast first (Jon Langford produced)
Belinda Backwards - 1991 blast first (and I am sure I am missing some!)

Singles :
Band of Susans split 7" 1989 - Blast First
Wedding Present split flexi 1993 Ablaze! Magazine insert

Hometown- Sheffield, UK

They are a perfect blend of so many genres and bands I love…only A.C. Temple was doing it before many of these newer groups. I was undeniably an old school emo indie rocker kid (still am I suppose minus the kid part) so my point of reference here is the early to middle years of Dischord Records. Some of the great guitar bands to come from San Diego like Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu. The classic Chicago / Touch and Go sound. American and British variations of Riot Grrrl. Anything Sub Pop from the late 80’s up until the mid 90’s. UK and US 90’s shoegaze and last but not least the more slightly dissonant noisy groups like Sonic Youth.

In high school I didn’t know about groups like Lilliput, Kleenex, Delta 5, The Slits, The Au Pairs,Th' Faith Healers, The Raincoats….but I have discovered these artists between 1988 and now and still I wonder how A.C. Temple records didn’t make their way into my collection sooner. This band and their catalog of music is equally as poignant and pertinent as any of these other groups yet for some reason A.C. Temple never made it to the underground music hall of fame.

Does A.C. Temple really fit into the same musical family as ALL the groups mentioned above?

YES! (I suspect for some people this group might sound a little too derivative of that decade but they were ahead of their time damn it so be nice!)

Throwback Thursday : A.C. Marias

Looking back to 1989 when Angela Conway recorded an album for Mute Records on the name A.C. Marias. The collaborators for this remarkable piece of music entitled One of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) include Bruce Gilbert of Wire (a band she had a long history of working with), Rowland S. Howard (Birthday Party), and Barry Adamson (Magazine / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) making this a must listen for those who have an interest in sparse, experimental post-punk with a dark cloud hovering over top.

Throwback Thursday : Bush Tetras

Active on and off since the late '70s, this NYC post punk band never got quite the same kind of attention as bands like Blondie, The Ramones, or The Talking Heads did. Here is their first single and one of the best known Bush Tetras songs, "Too Many Creeps" from 1980.

Side note, whenever I DJ this song, at least one person thinks it is Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth singing - without fail.

Throwback Thursday : The Flirts

A few days ago I mentioned The Flirts while writing about Dirty Ghosts. I have had The Flirts most well know single "Jukebox (Don't Put Another Dime)" in my head ever since.

The Flirts however were not a band in the traditional sense, they were a creation of music mogul Bobby "O" Orlando who wrote the music, played the instruments, produced the the tracks, and then looked for one redhead, one blonde, and one brunette to sing the songs and tour. Needless to say there was a long string of different women who fulfilled this role who were hired guns from a background in modeling, dancing, and acting who more often that not lip synced live. The Flirts may have been a rotating cast of characters and a facade of a girl band but for a decade, there were a string of hits recorded under that name and "Jukebox" remains an '80s classic. 1982 to be exact.