The song is absolutely incredible, and the work of a band that sounds tighter than ever, not one that has been "inactive" since 2002. Here's hoping that the momentum created by this track leads to the band recording together more. It won't be easy, since the four band members live in three different states (WA, NY, TN), but modern technology at least makes writing and recording music with others from a distance possible.
20130308
Poor Old Lu's first song in over a decade is OUT NOW
20130307
New Appleseed Cast song
The Appleseed Cast, set to release their 8th LP in 15 years on April 23, posted this song today:
You can order the new album, Illumination Ritual, from Graveface Records. There are three different vinyl versions, cassette (!), CD, and digital.
20130306
CUSH- All My Eyes Knew
Cush continues to release one song a month from their upcoming SP3 EP. This is track 3 of 7, but they have actually released four so far.
20130223
Luxury
Everything you could ever want to know about the band Luxury can be found here. If you've never listened, now's the time.
The recent news is they are back in the studio recording a new album.
And the backstory...
1995
My #3 album of the year:
1997
My #7 album of the year:
1999
My #4 album of the year:
2001
I was at this show (and I saw them play at least a dozen times from 1995-2002):2002
Paying tribute to another one of my favorite bands:
2005
My #4 album of the year:
2012:
From LeeBozeman.com:
Monday, October 22... I am writing songs again. working with the fellas on seeing if a new Luxury record is possible. sorting through a lot of ideas and desires but not very good words yet. for me, it is all about the language. I hope it comes together. I hope it means something. you just never know how these things will go. or at least, I never do. see you soon...
2013:
From LeeBozeman.com:
Tuesday, February 12... spent the last week in Atlanta with a dual purpose: playing some new Luxury songs and attending a clergy conference. hard to push those worlds together at times but we managed. three days, more of less, of loud music and then the quiet and simplicity of liturgical services. I have written and worked out five songs for what might be a new Luxury record, if it gets funded. "Parallel Love", "The War on Women", "Courage, Courage", "Don't Feel Bad If You Don't Feel Better Right Away", and "You Must Change Your Life". came together remarkably quickly. wrote these in more or less a month and hope to push on toward five or six more soon. writing mostly about memory and understanding of the past, the problems of repeating the past, etc. surprisingly, very little about faith so far or at least explicit faith and belief...
The present:
Luxury's Bandcamp
Insanely detailed Luxury fansite
20130218
Bronzspondi, Twin Sister, Portland's 90's underground, & Bandcamp
I published my Top 50 albums of the 1990's last week, and it's been a popular post. One of the comments I got today mentioned the Bronzspondi compilation, and how it was relevant to my list.
I had to Google "Bronzspondi", as it seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. The search quickly led me to this page, which has the entire Bronzspondi compilation streaming or you can download all 14 songs for 99 cents. I think maybe I owned this comp at some point, but it has been 15 years since I have seen or heard it.
Not only is the Bronzspondi compilation online, that Bandcamp page has dozens of obscure releases from the 1990's Portland underground scene. The tracks most intriguing to me are from Twin Sister, and the entire Twin Sister album (which I couldn't even find myself in the 90's) is also streaming or downloadable for 99 cents (and I am about to buy it):
As you can see, Twin Sister is a Star Wars band. Not only are all the lyrics inspired by Star Wars, the band members (many of whom were also in Sometime Sunday) dressed as Star Wars characters for every show.
I was fortunate enough to see Twin Sister in concert twice in 1996, once at the Crush Warehouse in Birmingham, and once at the Ace of Clubs in Nashville. The Ace of Clubs show is notable because that same night at the same location I saw Poor Old Lu, Mortal, Seven Day Jesus, Dimestore Prophets, PlankEye and Black Eyed Sceva. I took pictures of this show but the quality is pretty poor (someday I'll scan them anyway).
On this same Bandcamp page you can listen to or download a ton of music that only previously was available on cassette. Bands include Sometime Sunday, the Clergy, Pep Squad, The Five O'Clock People, and another compilation called Songs from the Rain Factory that has songs from Poor Old Lu, Don't Know, and others. The Sometime Sunday demo cassette is essential if you are familiar with that band.
Lastly, let me just say that Bandcamp is tremendous. I am having trouble keeping track of all the great old stuff I am finding on there. Just this week I found that Michael Knott and his band L.S.Underground has much of their back catalog up. Then of course there was that amazing Kerith Ravine find a couple weeks ago.
20130214
Top 50 albums of the 1990's
After finally publishing my Best of 1999 list a couple weeks ago, this list was fairly easy to put together (well, except the order, which is impossible and changes by the minute).
"When I decided to make a list of my 50 favorite albums of this decade, I needed some way to narrow the field. So I made a rule than an artist can only have one album in the top 50. This way more great albums are mentioned, and my favorite artists don’t dominate the list."
50. Raspberry Jam- Oceanic (1995) Best song: Easter
49. Rage Against the Machine- The Battle of Los Angeles* (1999) Best song: Guerrilla Radio
48. The Flaming Lips- The Soft Bulletin* (1999) Best song: Race for the Prize
47. Brandtson- Fallen Star Collection (1999) Best song: Summer in St. Claire
46. No Knife- Fire in the City of Automatons* (1999) Best song: Minus 1
45. P.O.D.- The Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999) Best song: Freestyle
44. Elliott- U.S. Songs** (1999) Best song: Dionysus Burning
43. The Juliana Theory- Understand This is a Dream* (1999) Best song: For Evangeline
42. Model Engine- The Lean Year’s Tradition (1997) Best song: Scarred but Smarter
41. Common Children- Delicate Fade (1997) Best song: Strange Rain
40. The Blamed- Frail (1995) Best song: No Difference
39. Velour 100- Of Color Bright** (1997) Best song: Dolphin Grey
38. Blenderhead- Muchacho Vivo (1995)
37. My Little Dog China- The Velvis Carnival (1994) Best song: Listen
36. Lost Dogs- Little Red Riding Hood (1993) Best song: Imagine That
35. The Connells- One Simple Word** (1990) Best song: Speak to Me
34. Toad the Wet Sprocket- Fear* (1991) Best song: All I Want
33. Fiona Apple- When the Pawn...* (1999) Best song: Fast as You Can
32. Dakoda Motor Co.- Into the Son (1993) Best song: Sondancer
31. Built to Spill- Keep it Like a Secret** (1999) Best song: The Plan
30. Vigilantes of Love- Audible Sigh (1999) Best song: Starry Eyed
29. Hoi Polloi- Happy Ever After (1995) Best song: Tiptoe
28. Morella’s Forest- SuperDeluxe (1995) The best song is Fizzle Kiss, but the only one I can find streaming on line is Wonderboy
27. Rose Blossom Punch- Ephemere (1997) Best song: Hot Rod Horse
26. U2- Achtung Baby* (1991) Best song: Mysterious Ways
25. R.E.M.- Up** (1998) Best song: Walk Unafraid
24. Pearl Jam- Ten** (1991) Best song: Jeremy (also one of the greatest music videos of all time)
23. Weezer- Weezer* (The Blue Album) (1994) Best song: The World Has Turned and left me Here
22. Starflyer 59- Silver** (1994) Best song: 2nd Space Song
21. Pedro the Lion- It’s Hard to Find a Friend** (1998) Best song: Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives
20. L.S.U.- Graceshaker (1994) Best song: Blame
19. The 77’s- Drowning With Land in Sight (1994) Best song: Alone Together
18. Fleming and John- Delusions of Grandeur (1995) Best song: I’m Not Afraid
17. Argyle Park- Misguided (1995) Best song: Doomsayer
16. The Innocence Mission- Glow (1995) Best song: That Was Another Country
15. Adam Again- Dig** (1992) Best song: River on Fire
14. Over the Rhine- Good Dog Bad Dog (1996) Best song: Latter Days
13. My Bloody Valentine- Loveless* (1991) Best song: Only Shallow
12. The Violet Burning- The Violet Burning (1996) Best song: Low
11. Luxury- Amazing and Thank You (1995) Best song: Solid Gold
10. Mortal- Fathom (1993) Best song: Bright Wings
9. Radiohead- OK Computer** (1997) Best song: Paranoid Android
8. Stavesacre- Absolutes (1997) Best song: Wither/Ascend
7. Mineral- The Power of Failing** (1997) Best song: If I Could
6. Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream** (1993) Best song: Mayonaise
5. Jimmy Eat World- Clarity** (1999) Best song: For Me This is Heaven
4. Sunny Day Real Estate- Diary** (1994) Best song: Song About an Angel
3. The Prayer Chain- Mercury** (1995) Best song: Sky High
2. Poor Old Lu- Sin (1994) Best song: My World Falls Down
1. Sixpence None the Richer- This Beautiful Mess (1995) Best song: Love, Salvation, Fear of Death
Best video: Angeltread
Rolling Stone probably should have used my rule about an artist only being allowed one album, because there are only 86 artists for 100 albums. You can't tell me Jay Z's 2nd-best album of the 90's is better than so many other artists' best. If you are curious, my list and Rolling Stone's only share 10 albums.
Anyway, I narrowed Rolling Stone's list down, and came up with the top 10 albums of theirs that didn't make my list. So I guess these are my honorable mentions:
1. Nirvana- Nevermind
2. Metallica- Metallica (The Black Album)
3. Counting Crows- August and Everything After
4. Oasis- (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
5. Beastie Boys- Ill Communication
6. Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
7. Soundgarden- Superunknown
8. Beck- Odelay
9. Belle and Sebastian- If You're Feeling Sinister
10. The Magnetic Fields- 69 Love Songs
Lastly, their is one more album I feel I must mention that did not make my list nor Rolling Stone's, and is definitely one of the best albums of the 1990's:
Foo Fighters- The Colour and the Shape
To give you a little insight on this album and how it connects to the number 4 album on my list, I'll share an excerpt from Wikipedia's page on the Foo Fighters:
Grohl formed a band to support the [first Foo Fighters] album. Initially, he talked to former Nirvana bandmate Krist Novoselic about joining the group, but both decided against it. "For Krist and I, it would have felt really natural and really great", Grohl explained. "But for everyone else, it would have been weird, and it would have left me in a really bad position. Then I really would have been under the microscope." Having heard about the disbanding of Seattle-based rock band Sunny Day Real Estate, Grohl drafted the group's bass player, Nate Mendel, and drummer, William Goldsmith...
Foo Fighters made its live public debut on February 23, 1995 at the Jambalaya Club in Arcata, California and then March 3 at The Satyricon in Portland...
After touring through the spring of 1996, Foo Fighters entered Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, Washington with producer Gil Norton to record its second album. While Grohl once again wrote all the songs, the rest of the band collaborated on the arrangements. With the sessions nearly complete, Grohl took the rough mixes with him to Los Angeles, intending to finish up his vocal and guitar parts. While there, Grohl realized that he was not happy with how the mixes were turning out, and the band "basically re-recorded almost everything".
During the L.A. sessions, Grohl had played drums on the songs. Unhappy with Goldsmith's drumming, Grohl removed it from the recordings and re-recorded the drum tracks. As Goldsmith was about to come down to L.A to find out why he wasn't being called upon to re-record his parts, he called Mendel from Seattle inquiring if he should make the trip. Grohl then called Goldsmith saying, "Dude, don't come down here, I'm recording some of the drum tracks." Shocked by this, Goldsmith met up with Mendel in Seattle and repeated Grohl's claim to be re-recording "some" of the tracks. Mendel asked, "Is that what he told you?" Goldsmith affirmed it, and Mendel stated, "No, man -- he did them all."
Grohl explained that he'd wanted the drums to sound a certain way on the album. He wanted Goldsmith to play for the tour even though it would not be his drumming but Grohl's on the album. Feeling betrayed, Goldsmith left the band. To this day Grohl still feels guilty for his decision, saying "I was an immature kid at the time."
20130213
Velour 100 and the Shoegaze Movement
While working on yet-to-be-published blog post, I uploaded the Velour 100 song "Dolphin Grey" to YouTube. There is very little about this terrific band online, and they didn't last very long. Even in their short existence of two LPs and two EPs multi-instrumentalist Trey Many used six different lead vocalists: Amon Krist (daughter of Jan), Tess Wiley (significant solo career and former guitarist for Sixpence None the Richer), Sydney Rentz (Morella's Forest), Karen Oliver (His Name is Alive), Alicia Luma, and finally Rosie Thomas.
Uploading this track to YouTube led me to discover a great article about the shoegaze movement, which couldn't have been published at a more opportune (and probably intentional) time with My Bloody Valentine releasing their first album since 1991. You can read the article by Chuck Hicks here, but here is the part about Velour 100:
While Slowdive was relinquishing the gazing muse, another obscure stateside band was taking it up. Trey Many (pr. “may’-nee”), the drummer for Warren Defever’s His Name is Alive, was developing a side project at Eastern Michigan University. Together with art student Amon Krist (daughter of folk singer Jan Krist) he formed Velour 100 and signed with Seattle’s alternative label, Tooth & Nail.
Velour 100′s first full-length recording was Fall Sounds (1996) with Many on all instruments and Krist on lead vocals (and occasional acoustic guitar). Right away the listener finds the music here focused and thematically linked — a concept album based on the pair’s experiences of loss and renewal informed by their Christian faith. The same dense, hypnotic atmospherics present with Slowdive are found here; but Many keeps the listening interesting with changes and unusual time signatures. ”Dub Space” is a sparkling eight and half minute tone poem that could have emerged from the waterfall at the end of “Close to the Edge.” The strongest track on the album — and, in my view, among the best three and a half minutes of the ’90s — is “Flourish”:
Velour 100 never received a bad critical review. As Krist departed to complete her studies and launch a teaching career, the duo’s first demo recording was re-recorded and released as Songs From the Rainwater EP to high praise. Many produced one more LP, Of Color Bright (1997) that featured three female lead vocalists, including ex-Sixpence None the Richer guitarist Tess Wiley. Wiley co-wrote “Dolphin Grey,” which showcases her distinctive alto against a splash of jangling guitars:
Many recorded a final four-song EP, For An Open Sky (1999), with soon-to-breakout vocalist Rosie Thomas. He now lends his formidable production skills to projects for other bands.
Finally, I'll add that Velour 100 resurfaced in another form as Half-Life Souvenir, which toured briefly but never released any music.
20130211
20130207
Jimmy Eat World's "Best Song Never Released"
From the blog of Jimmy Eat World drummer Zach Lind:
"In my mind, even though we never released this tune ("Jen"), I think it’s one of my favorite Jimmy Eat World songs of all time. We recorded this song during the Futures session but took it off the album because it just didn’t really fit the vibe with the other tunes and after that, the timing never really felt that good to release it. Maybe because the song had already leaked and we never felt that motivated to officially release the tune.
But looking back on this song, we busted our ass getting it to the point of where it ended up. It sounds like a simple song but we recorded it many different times with several different arrangements, tempos, keys, etc… It was nuts. Gil Norton was the producer and we were having the album mixed by Rich Costey at Cello Studios in Hollywood. While Rich was mixing, we were tracking Jen in studio 3 at Cello which was famous for recording Pet Sounds and some Mammas and Pappas albums. We didn’t have any of our gear in town so I rented a kit and ended up using a ludwig acrolite that Chris Testa (grammy winning engineer who ended up engineering Chase This Light) had in studio A when he was tracking the band Gratitude (who coincidentally were friends of ours and ended up opening up for us on tour). While we were tracking Jen, Brian Wilson was in studio 2 working on a project and at one point, poked his head into the door of the control room of studio 3. “Holy shit!! Brian Wilson just walked into our control room!” That was incredible."
Anyway, that’s the basic story of Jen. We nearly killed ourselves recording a song we never released.
I couldn't agree with him more. I was able to find and download Futures a few months before it was released in 2004 (and yes I later bought it on CD and vinyl), and the original track-listing had 12 songs (official release has 11), with "Jen" being number 6.
The song and album were released the year I got married. My then fiance and I listened to this album A TON on our many road trips, and this was our favorite song from it. "Jen" also ended up being on our wedding mix CD.
Jimmy Eat World's new album has been completed, and now we are just waiting on a title and release date. I am guessing Summer.
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