Chixdiggit - Chixdiggit - 1996

This completely sticks out in comparison to the entire back catalog of SubPop. Instead of experimental indie rock or moody grunge, what we have here is obnoxiously happy pop-punk. With songs like "Henry Rollins Is No Fun" and "I Wanna Hump You," it's pretty apparent that Chixdiggit just want to have fun with their first record. Even if a lot of these songs have the same Ramones flavor with a verse-chorus-verse song structure, these guys have enough enthusiasm to make up for their redundancy. -AMG




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Sleeping Dervish - Water Scared

Got this in my emai!  Enjoy
Curty Ray

"Sleeping Dervish is a rock/pop-constellation with three members located in three different cities. Vocalist and guitarist Gustaf Classon lives in Linköping, the drummer Vanja Hadzic in Aneby (more like a village really) and bass player Andreas Hosio in Stockholm. Describing our music soundwise is pretty hard as people who listen to it points out so many influences that we've stopped trying to pin-point ourselves musically. Listeners have compered us to all sorts of music - The Smiths, Coldplay, Foo Fighters and The Motorhomes to name a few - so we leave the associating to you and feel content pointing out that we've listened a lot to British pop and American nighties grunge.

Our latest EP the water scared is sleeping dervish's third and song wise longest recording. As usual we've employed our good friend and musician Andreas Boldt (who makes excellent electro music as Studio Star) who has a smattering of miking up stuff and a magic touch when it comes to mixing it. Every one of the six tracks got recorded during two extremly hectic weekends in a borrowed studio in Falun during the spring 2010 (apart from rigging up all the instruments and improvising mike positions we also drove about 500 miles per session). Extra takes and the final mix were done during this summer in Gustafs parents garage and at Andreas Boldts grandmothers place (she might not be our biggest fan, but she's very nice!). Even though the forms under which the recording took place might seem a bit quirky, the final outcome is dead serious. We are more than pleased with the result and hope that you might agree."

2010 : the water scared by sleeping dervish

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sleeping-Dervish/30505246115

Spotify: http://open.spotify.com/album/0eeWpmdj527S8ZPAwp6SkF

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sleepingdervish

Cool Jerks - Cleaned a Lot of Plates in Memphis - 2002

With a lineup that features former members of such seminal noisemakers as the Oblivians and the Neckbones, it should come as little surprise that Cool Jerks flat-out rock. No ham-fisted critical pigeonholing, carefully chosen faux-vintage clothing, or fancy haircuts are needed to dress up what these boys are doing. The album title is itself a bit of a double entendre, serving as a nod to both the John Fogerty classic from which the line is borrowed ("Proud Mary") and to all the time the bandmembers have spent washing dishes and daydreaming about rock & roll. Nothing could more aptly sum up Cool Jerks, as their sound is that of pure, unkempt rock & roll; it's not all glamour -- in fact, sometimes it's downright ugly -- but even when it gets rough, you'll be begging for more. Like other groups cut from the same Memphis-flavored, blues/rock/soul cloth, like the Reigning Sound, Cool Jerks play rock & roll with a sense of urgency that borders on sermonizing. While the Jerks aren't quite as polished as the Sound, they aren't nearly as sleazy as the Oblivians, either. Instead, they are a well-balanced mix of the Oblivians' ferocity and the Neckbones' swagger and jangle. The band plays music that comes straight from rock's roots, the kind of music that comes from being schooled in the masters and possessing a flawless record collection. One of the album's best tracks, "Let It Go and Rock!," was co-authored by Dave Boyer and Forrest Hewes (both formerly of the Neckbones), and the guys trade vocals lines throughout the song, making it perhaps the most shining example of the great things these musicians are capable of when they put their heads together. The Boyer-penned "Man and a Woman" is barebones drums-and-guitar blues-rock, calling to mind the more reserved moment of Jon Spencer, while his "Not the Only Girl in Town" is an ode to not letting the world get you down, sort of the anti-blues. Sometimes known as Jack Oblivian, Jack Yarber's tracks are raw and ambitious, ranging from mid-tempo janglers full of background "oohs and ahhs" ("Friend of a Loner"), to rockabilly flair ("Skip a Beat") and riotous rockers ("Can't Quit"). Cool Jerks' rendition of Smokey Robinson's classic "You Really Got a Hold on Me," though downright polished by Jerks standards, sounds like a 3 a.m. jam session: rough around the edges, but so gut-wrenchingly honest that the flaws only make it more beautiful. Yarber's "Certified Fool" brings the album to its knees with vocals raspier than Scott McCloud's and what sounds like an army of guitars freaking out for the duration of the song. If this were a big-tent revival, Yarber would be the guy rolling around on the ground speaking in tongues. Next, Hewes and Boyer check in again with their dueling vocal attack on "Who You Running To?," which may well be the album's strongest, catchiest track. At least it seems that way until Yarber turns things up a notch with "Why Can't I...?" This great energy between all of the players, each man inspiring the other to play even better, is what makes Cool Jerks a fantastic outfit. Stop mourning the passing of the Oblivians and the Neckbones and start dancing with Cool Jerks. Buy these cats a drink and raise a toast to the gals who broke their hearts and inspired such great songs. -AMG



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Cornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time - 1997

When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal melodicism of indie pop. Tying all of these strands together, the band creates a multicultural music that is utterly modern; it is conscious of its heritage, but instead of being enslaved to tradition, it pushes into the future and finds a common ground between different cultures and musics. Like Woman's Gotta Have It, large portions of When I Was Born for the 7th Time are devoted to hypnotic instrumentals, but the music here is funkier and fully realized. Cornershop hits an appealing compromise between detailed arrangements and lo-fi technology. There may be cheap keyboards and drum machines scattered throughout the album, but they are used as sonic texturing, similar to the turntables, synthesizers, samplers, sitars, and guitars that drive the instrumentals punctuating the full-fledged songs. When it chooses, Cornershop can write hooky, immediate pop songs -- "Sleep on the Left Side" and "Brimful of Asha" are wonderful pop singles, and "Good to Be on the Road Back Home" is an impressive, country-tinged tale -- but what makes When I Was Born for the 7th Time such a rich, intoxicating listen is that it balances these melodic tendencies with deceptively complex arrangements, chants, drones, electronic instrumentals, and funky rhythms, resulting in an album that becomes better with each listen. -AMG




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Awesome Color - Awesome Color - 2006

Awesome Color is a power trio from Brooklyn but their original and spiritual home is in the Midwest; the Midwest where drums sound like they're pounded with tree limbs, where angry, ugly guitars and snarled, over-amped vocals rule the day, and the Stooges rule with a leather whip and a TV eye. The band's self-titled debut is a rocket-fueled blast of energy and brains, packed with songs and sounds that will blow you away. They are equally adept at bashing out short and devilish rockers, and at weaving through longer and slower trippy tunes like the album's last track, "Animal." Guitarist/vocalist Derek Stanton is both an amazing singer from the howl-till-the-mic-feedbacks school, and a fiery guitarist with a knack for bludgeoning riffs and raw, exciting solos, too. He's backed with precision by drummer Allison Busch and bassist Michael Troutman; they give Stanton room to run wild and are always there when he lands. A near perfect rhythm section, in other words. The trio put their skills to use on hook-filled, roof-raising tracks like "Ridin'," "Free Man," the rampaging "Hat Energy" (which features some fine free-form sax work from Wade Kergan) and the near Sabbath grind of "See You Hear You." You wouldn't think from looking at the booklet photo of the group that such an innocent looking bunch (dressed in such loud colors!) could create a sound so hairy, tough and thudding. They can, though, and while they are nothing if not derivative, they play with so much energy and fire that they sound like contemporaries, even peers, of the Stooges, not like kids kicking out the jams almost 30 years later. Awesome Color lives up to their name. -AMG



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Age Of Jets - Go Go Gadget Pop - 2004

The debut album from Hull, England five-piece electro-hardcore pop band Age Of Jets. Formed while drunk during a power outage at the Adelphi Club in Hull, the band brings it popping, rhythmic, and fun. Have been favorably compared to Clinic, Human League (circa 1979), Fonda 500, and Blur. Produced by underground electro wizard Luke Barwell of Bitmap.



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RICHARD X HEYMAN’S TIERS/AND OTHER STORIES,

RICHARD X HEYMAN’S TIERS/AND OTHER STORIES,
TWO SEPARATE ALBUMS PACKAGED TOGETHER,
CONTINUE INDIE ARTIST’S WORLD-CLASS POP SONG CRAFT

April 19 releases are next step in the evolution of what RollingStone.com called “hooks galore and ebullient melodies”

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Richard X. Heyman’s ambitious new release, Tiers/And Other Stories, affirms what his longtime admirers have known for years: the veteran singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and DIY recording pioneer is a world-class artist whose effortless mastery of popular music idioms is matched by his uncanny knack for infusing classic styles with timeless emotional truths.

Those abilities have won Heyman a fiercely loyal grass-roots fan base and reams of critical acclaim over the past two and a half decades.  All Music Guide called him “perhaps America’s greatest unsung hero of power pop, a songwriter of uncommon talent and intelligence and a one-man rock band without peer,” while the Hartford Courant proclaimed him to be “a true heir to [Brian] Wilson’s mantle, amid an ocean of pretenders.”  RollingStone.com praised Heyman’s “hooks galore and ebullient melodies, and lyrics revealing the emotional power that pop can pack into its brevity,” while the Chicago Tribune observed, “Heyman creates something fresh from his influences rather than parroting them.”

The two-CD, 31-song Tiers/And Other Stories — set for April 19, 2011 release on Turn-Up Records through Burnside Distribution — marks a creative watershed for Heyman, consolidating many threads of his prior work while venturing into fresh new musical and conceptual territory.  The project — which Heyman regards as two separate albums packaged together, rather than a double album — finds him largely diverging from the jangly, guitar-driven style for which he’s best known in favor of a more eclectic approach that encompasses the baroque symphonic textures of “Hot on the Trail of Innocence” and “Agnostic’s Prayer,” the languid country balladry of “Good to Go,” the gospel-inflected R&B of “The Real Deal,” the haunting atmospherics of “Birds” and the jazzy vibe of “Horizon” and “Game Stays the Same.”

While the music covers compelling new ground, the new songs’ autobiographical lyrics mine some essential universal insights out of Heyman’s own experiences.  Tiers is a deeply felt song cycle recounting the tangled but ultimately triumphant tale of the early stages of his relationship with Nancy Leigh, his wife of 23 years as well as his bassist and frequent recording collaborator. And Other Stories picks up the story with the couple happily settled in New York, via a set of songs that reflect Heyman’s strongly held beliefs on life, love, loss and other topics close to the artist’s heart.

“I hate to bring up the c-word, but Tiers is what they used to call a concept album, or a rock opera,” Heyman confesses.  “Tiers is a chronological story, but And Other Stories is more like lifestyle songs, with topics like September 11th, mortality, losing friends and family members, the baby-boom generation, and our love of animals and animal rescue.  All of the stuff in all of these songs is meaningful to me, and hopefully there are some things in there that will be meaningful to the listener as well.”

Releasing a two-disc set containing 132 minutes’ worth of challenging new music is a fairly audacious move in an era in which pop culture is geared towards instant gratification and limited attention spans.  “I didn’t give it that much thought; I just started writing these songs and couldn’t stop,” Heyman asserts, adding, “We also recorded another whole album’s worth of songs that didn’t get included.

Heyman’s extensive experience in delivering mini-masterpieces on a budget served him well in constructing Tiers/And Other Stories’ expansive musical settings.  As usual, he did most of the recording in his home studio the Kit Factory, producing and playing most of the instruments himself, with Nancy Leigh engineering.  “We did have other musicians contributing strings, horns and woodwinds,” he points out, adding, “but they would come in one at a time, seeing as how we only have one decent microphone.”

As much as it’s a stylistic departure from his previous releases, Tiers/And Other Stories is also a potent manifestation of the lifelong passion for music that’s driven Heyman since his days growing up in Plainfield, New Jersey. Heyman was still in junior high school when he achieved his first taste of rock ’n’ roll notoriety as drummer with the fabled garage band the Doughboys, whose raucous live sets won them a rabid following in the New York/New Jersey area during the second half of the 1960s. (Original Doughboys guitarist Willy Kirchofer, who passed away in 2005, is the subject of the Tiers/And Other Stories track “When Willy Played Guitar.”)

By the time Heyman reemerged as a solo artist in the late 1980s, he’d matured into a singularly distinctive songwriter with an uncanny ability to channel his vintage rock ’n’ roll influences into tunes that are both infectiously catchy and emotionally resonant.  Those qualities were prominent on his self-released, home-recorded efforts Actual Size and Living Room!! Both generated considerable critical positive press and music-industry word of mouth, leading to a major-label deal with Sire/Warner Bros., which released the widely acclaimed Hey Man! in 1991.

Recording for a corporate label helped to win Heyman a wider audience and a higher media profile. But it also proved to be a frustrating experience, and it wasn’t long before he was back in indie territory, making and releasing his music on his own terms.  His subsequent albums Cornerstone, Basic Glee, Rightovers, Actual Sighs and Intakes, as well as the EP Heyman, Hoosier and Herman (with guest vocalist Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits) chronicled Heyman’s ongoing musical evolution.  Heyman also found time to release the career-spanning video retrospective X-Posures, and to pen his first book, the vivid rock ’n’ roll memoir Boom Harangue.

In recent years, Heyman has juggled his own work with his activities as a member of the reactivated Doughboys. The resurgent quartet has also released a pair of well-received new albums, 2007’s Is It Now? and 2010’s Act Your Rage, which feature several Heyman compositions. Their song “Why Can’t She See Me?” (written by Richard) was chosen as #3 Coolest Song in the World on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Sirius XM channel for 2010!

But it’s Tiers/And Other Stories that’s currently the focus of Richard X. Heyman’s attention. “I suppose the theme of these albums, “ he concludes, is that we all make decisions in life, and hopefully all those decisions lead us to a place we can call home<”  

For more information about Richard X. Heyman please contact:
Cary Baker • Conqueroo • cary@conqueroo.com • 323-656-1600

Van Duren - Idiot Optimism - 1999

Van Duren was part of the early Memphis power pop scene that spawned the legendary Big Star, and made several underexposed, small-label records during the late '70s. Duren began playing in bands at the age of 13 in 1966 and attended high school with eventual Big Star drummer Jody Stephens; he auditioned to replace Chris Bell in Big Star in 1974, shortly after the completion of Third/Sister Lovers. In 1975, he and Stephens collaborated on some demos that were produced by former Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham (whom he met through producer Jon Tiven), and a year later he was playing in a group called the Baker Street Regulars with both Bell and Stephens. In 1977, Duren traveled to New England to record for Tiven's new Big Sound label; his solo debut, Are You Serious?, was released in March 1978. The album was released in Europe as Staring at the Ceiling on Big Sound. A second album, Idiot Optimism, was recorded in 1978 and 1979, though disagreements and financial difficulties prevented it from being released (until it was licensed to the Japanese Air Mail label in 1999). Duren returned to Memphis in 1981 and the following year put together a band called Good Question, which gigged around the city off and on for the next 18 years. In 1999, Duren collaborated with fellow Memphis power popster Tommy Hoehn on the album Hailstone Holiday, on which he received co-billing. Unfortunately, health problems forced Duren to severely curtail his activities in 2000, which led to the breakup of Good Question. -AMG



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New Duncan Imperials - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vegas - 1997

Chicago trash-rockers the New Duncan Imperials comprised guitarist Pigtail Dick, bassist Skipper Zwakinov and drummer Mr. Goodtime Dammit finally return to the studio and churn out 14 new blockbuster gems, including "Potato Chicks," Pathetica," "Sex Drive,", "YoYo," and ten more. Hard rockin' and crunchy. This will blow yer car stereo to bits. Produced by Chuck Uchida.




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The Goldstars - Purple Girlfriend - 2006

Having honed their act through tireless performances and ample roadwork, “Purple Girlfriend” finds The Goldstars at the top of their musical game. Bassist and vocalist Sal is at his primal, swaggering best on revved-up cuts like ‘DMV’ and ‘All About You’ as well as their slash and burn cover of The Sparkles’ classic ‘No Friend of Mine’. Goodtime’s drums tumble like runaway thunder on crucial cuts like the tremolo-soaked ‘One Plus One’ and Sal’s hilariously bitter ‘Angry Eyes’. Guitarist Dag Juhlin steps up to the microphone for a pair of numbers — the caffeinated Stones riff-o-rama of ‘Fire’ and the album’s most blatant and engaging musical departure, the muscular West Coast psychedelia of ‘Go Baby Go’. And his moaning guitar squall adds a suitably nightmarish accent to the instrumental title track. Through it all is the amped-up keyboard work of band co-founder Skipper. Whether he’s rolling through a nasty, Farfisa-laden blues solo in ‘Always Late’ or channeling an after-hours Ramsey Lewis in the band’s stunning reworking of the Mel Torme-sung chestnut, ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ it’s Skipper’s handiwork that adds the right touch of garage grit to every track.



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