Alexander Lee Spence Genius

Skip Spence is my tragic hero. There I said it. It was hard to say because I think along with Syd Barrett and Skip they are true genius's. True because they were victims of the 1960's. They were also people who knew how to write so well that some people to this day still don't know their talent. Each were in bands that is part of the true 1960's spirit. It is interesting to hear Skip's take on it, but his music is amazing.

I talked in an early post about Moby Grape. One of the coolest bands I love. Skip was one of the founders of that band. Before he started that band he was the first drummer for Jefferson Airplane. He was even a guitar player in Quicksilver Messenger Service for a bit too. Reading up more and more on him I realized his genius. He is also had a hand in forming the Doobie Brothers.



Skip was a true and great writer of Moby Grape. His personal issues finally took him over. He was full of drug addiction and mental illness. He took so much LSD that he was on a trip and almost killed one his band mates with an axe. He was cooped up in Bellevue Hospital for six months. Upon him getting released he drove to Nashville in his pj's and recorded his only solo album.

Oar is an album that is now a classic. He recorded it with no other people, and he played all the instruments himself. This album is full of folk and rock. He stayed in the studio for two weeks recording this classic. Each song has a full hand print of his words. I am still partial to the opening song "Little Hands."

Little hands clapping
Children are laughing
Little hands clapping all over the world
Piper is piping
Drummers are drumming
Little hands clapping all over the world
Little hands clapping
Children are sharing
Little loves loving, all little boys and girls
Children are singing
The truths that they're bringing
Freedom is ringing all 'round the world
Come let us meet them
Ah, yes, we will greet them
Little hands clapping
Children are caring
Piper is calling all over the world
Out in the street
The sick that you meet
How many friends do you call your own?

That is just some his classic lyrics. It's very emotional and gives a lot into Skip Spence. He even got a tribute album with other artist covering this album. People who guest include Robert Plant, Tom Waits, Mudhoney, Robyn Hitchcock, and Beck. I mention Beck last because he is working on a project where he does an album every few months or so called the Beck Record Club where he has done Leonard Cohen and Velvet Underground and the newest one Oar.



This album is full of his surrealism. It is not to be passed up if you see in the store. You should get it and transport yourself back to a time where his creativity was at it's peak. Skip will be missed and to me his genius lies right here. Listen how much his view of the world with his themes of saints and demons and only he could record what he saw back in 1969.

Steve Winwood's Project

Traffic was a band that I listened to when I was younger. It was in my fathers collection and stood out like a sore thumb compared to his other records. The only problem he did not have the first two, he had John Barleycorn Must Die. That album is great, but less of the Psychedelia. That album included more progressive rock and folk roots then any of their albums. Traffic was great though their four piece band at the time sounded like there was at least six members.

In some way Traffic was my first favorite band behind King Crimson. I was 14 when I got into them and I did not seen any reason not to like them. I played John Barleycorn Must Die about million times. Each song had an epic feel to it. It was awesome. That all changed when I went over my trusty uncle to "borrow" his LP's. He had other Traffic albums I never heard. I wondered if they would be the same as the one I had. I was wrong, but good thing because I thought these were just as good if not better.



I looked at both the Traffic albums he had. These are songs I don't recall hearing on the radio. If I did the titles did not suggest that I heard them. I just remember watching a special on Steve Winwood suggesting that he was once the "white Ray Charles" and that voice was on the stamp of these albums. I brought them home with the excitement like all other music, but this time I was ready to hear something new and different that was going to be totally unexpected. I was so happy to put these on the turntable.

I did not know which to start with, so I went to the one called Mr. Fantasy. That one at least looked the least worn. I thought that my uncle did not like it. He told me later on that he was so blown away by that album that he kept that one in good shape and bought himself another copy.
I was amazed at how each song was filled with great musicianship. Dave Mason on Guitar and Bass, Steve Winwood on Organ, Harpsichord and Guitar, Jim Capaldi on Drums and finally Chris Wood on Flute and Saxophone. Each created colours that no band has ever done. It was quite amazing to hear all this go on and think four, sometimes three people created all this.

When I started listening to this I really fell in love with the song "Paper Sun." It was one of the singles off the album and each time I hear it now it brings back memories of not only my first exposure to Traffic, but the end of 1967. Other great psychedelic numbers like "Hole in My Shoe" and "Heaven is in Your Mind" talk about the sixties quite well. The album as a whole is amazing and when Island issued the album with mono and stereo mixes with bonus it was a sixties music lovers dream. There are different versions of the album out there, but not sure what to get?? Get this one and hear some true music from 1967 that has roots in America and England. Enjoy!

Sgt. Pepper of the 90's?????

When I was visiting my friends at the book store one day, a friend who I knew well enough to point me in a direction to find something handed me this CD. It was Mr. Bungle's Disco Volante. He said hello and then he said, "Matt if you don't own this, the Sgt. Pepper of the 90's you should make this your next buy." "I laughed at his description and told him it's in my car as we speak. He was proud that I had this CD mainly because now he knew where my musical tastes were and he could judge what obscene or out of this world music he could pick for me.

He decided to open the CD and play it for the customers. I cringed and thought he would drive them out of the store. There was about ten of in the store at this moment. Well within five minutes he drove all but 2 out. This included myself and some other person who loved it as much as I did, but did not know anything about them. The person came up to the desk and asked where he could find this CD. I kept my mouth closed, because, I wanted to hear my friend explain to this person what is so great about this CD. He told him that the music spoke for itself and needed no praise on how it is so great, but just to buy it and it will speak volumes.



At first listen it sounds like a mess, but my friend was right. The music does speak for itself quite well. If you wanted some genre mixing this CD is one of the best at that. The mix of Death Metal, 50's pop and surf music, techno, Middle-Eastern music, and Italian Avant-Garde is the the best way to say what it is. It's a Mike Patton thought for about 70 minutes. It's fun and odd and definitely a album that will rise a lot of questions out of your friends. I would guess even people who don't know you will come up to you and ask you what the hell is this stuff.

I think the best way to tell people about this album is to listen to it for themselves. It has all the sounds of some spontaneous musical journey, but somehow Bungle put's it all together well. I know that if you are looking for an album to show off to people who like simple music, then you don't have an album for them. This album is so odd you wonder where they get the ideas from. To be a fly on the wall during this album must have been something just to hear them make sounds and odd nothings out of something.



I am not sure how to tell you more, but if all the albums you should listen to this is one that should be just heard. It might not hit your taste buds, but afterwords your mind will try to dissect everything you just heard and you will have to hear it again. My friend will tell you to this day that he still believes it is the Sgt. Peppers of the 90's. The world tries to guess what goes on in the mind of Mike Patton and this album gives us a small peak of what he is thinking. He is warped and fun and full of odd things, but one thing is for certain this album expresses his genius.

Girls In The Woods

One the day the duck was born
The fox was watching all along
He said, "Land Ho!" when he saw the duck
"Land Ho!" and the duck saw him too

'Shiny Pretty Fox' thought the duck

The duck came up onto the land
The fox saw her and he just laughed

"I could show you some shiny tricks." he said
"Come along we'll get our kicks," he said
"Land Ho!" for shiny tricks
"Land Ho!" for me

"Oh Fox! Is this love? Can you tell me? What is love?"

That good looking fox only knew one trick
He could break hearts just lickety-split
The duck knew this game she had to quit
And her own pond she was headed to quick
"I'll go I'll go and there's no looking back"

Goodbye little fox

That is the lyrics to the opening song called "The Fox" by Sleater Kinney. Just imagine those lyrics with the power of two guitars and drums in your ear cranked up past 20. The wonderful screaming of Corin Tucker shaking every fiber of your body. She can do it too, I've seen it and the power can rattle anybody. Sadly the album this comes from is the last album Sleater Kinney put out. The album is called The Woods.

When you first hear this album beside the wonderful opening track I just talked about you hear how Sleater Kinney was intended to be heard. It's onslaught of heavy, angry, spiralling guitars, ridiculously loud drums, and Corin Tucker's inimitable, love-them-or-hate-them vocalsh and beautiful sound that only could be created by them. The Woods is so loud you wonder how three people can create such wonderful stuff and still have time to breathe.




I think I became a Sleater Kinney fan when I heard them on college radio in 1997. They sounded fun, fresh and new. They were also excellent female musicians. Janet's drumming was loud and it was not simple. She would as they call it "Fill" very well. Songs like "Words and Guitar" were great and showcased the vocals of Corin. Carrie's rhythm guitar playing sounded like she was playing both guitar and bass with having a bass player there. Their guitar playing overlapped very well. I was hooked. It was time to like a new band.

By the time 1999 came around they were on fire. I heard them all the time on college radio. They were so great then I would buy there album. This time I liked what I heard and wanted more. They quickly put out something new in 2000 and by then they on fire and each song on All Hands On The Bad One was amazing. I had a copy of the CD and would blast it all the time. Then 2002 came around. A new album that could have reflection on 9/11 came out. Sure enough Sleater Kinney's take was amazing, and what resulted was an even better more improved sound from them. The album One Beat was on my top 20 of 2002. They toured and it was one of the best shows of that year. I still would put it in one of the top 50 shows I have seen. ( I have seen over 500 shows)



There next album blew all their other albums away. Not only did they make noise with the music, but in the music world they shifted labels. They left Kill Rock Stars for Sub Pop. Sub Pop is one of the most innovative Indie Rock labels. They have some of the coolest acts on this label, artists include, Mudhoney, The Shins, Wolf Parade, Band of Horses, and at one point Nirvana and Soundgarden. They decided with their time to add a really great producer too. David Fridmann, who worked with the mighty Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, gave Sleater Kinney a different voice and most of all some new fans.

Each song on The Woods has a wonderful vibe that was really well created live. Each had an abrasive edge like no other. Janet's drums were right in your face. Both Carrie and Corin could be in your head faster then you can say. You even felt when you saw them live they really could make some noise. They opened for Pearl Jam and blew the doors off anybody who thought they were lame chick rock. They had great reviews and then they sprung upon us that they were going to take a hiatus. I was sad and confused.

If they ever decided to get back together I would welcome them again. They are one of the best bands in the world. Any of their albums are wonderful, but you should start with The Woods. It's an album that shows how intense a three piece could be. Listen for yourself. Wonders do exist if you look past the trees.

The Tortoise Boom

I went back to school after taking about five years off. My intent was to get the degree I was missing and go back home and get a full time job that had to with music or film. I also wanted to enroll and work at the campus radio station. I had grand ideas of shows I wanted to do. What I did not know was that there were about two dozen bands that somehow were uniquely popular to some people and I should listen to. One of these bands was Tortoise.

Tortoise was a I never heard of until I went back to school. By the time I started school they had three albums out. Why did I never hear about them in the musical papers or on the college radio stations that I religiously listened to? Maybe they did play them and I did not pick up on this wonderful sound. Either way I stumbled upon them when I met some of the radio station people who lived downstairs in my dorm. Both myself and the people from downstairs agreed that liked Radiohead, Flaming Lips, Miles Davis, Faith No More, and Aphex Twin plus many others.

One day though they invited me to their room for some musical talk. One of the guys was the music DJ at the college radio station the other was a music major. Seemed pretty fair that two sides of the musical spectrum were covered. Then they asked me about other bands I liked. They asked me about Orb, King Crimson, Television, Talking Heads and many others. I agreed with all of those. But then they asked me about bands I never heard of. These included Tortoise, Modest Mouse, and Death Cab For Cutie. They were surprised to hear that I have not heard of any of those at the time.



They narrowed their selection to Tortoise. They told me If I like Aphex Twin and Radiohead I should like them. I was deeply curious about this band. Three albums and I still have not heard of them. It did not add up like it was supposed to for me. Usually a band gets some kind of listen by me after the first one. So the music major made me a mix CD of Tortoise. It comprised of the first three albums. The albums I should have had in my collection. It was a great mix, so much in fact I had to find these albums that I missed.

I took this burned CD back upstairs and studied it. My roommate heard the first song and though it was something crazy. The first song was a song called "The Equator" which is off TNT. I was enjoying it because it included the Aphex Twin type electronica with real guitar and bass and drums. I was shocked why I did not like this sooner. I mean I think Aphex Twin is amazing. I reached the second song, again this was off TNT. This was the title track from the album. This time the guitar was more at the front of the song and what it made it more interesting was the fact that this was really catchy. There was no solo, but the riff was really well done. As I listened more and more it became clear that this was a band I should follow and listen to.



I listened to them a lot while I was at school that first semester and became hooked on all the stuff they were doing. Everything was quite fun but in a way it had some technical to it. I really liked how they expanded the landscape even further of what we were all used to. It was a welcome sound to my ears, but sadly I get home and talk about it, they all think I am crazy. So crazy that they think I invited some kind of stuff that was not in anyone's musical spectrum.

The sound of the album is very original with the Spanish guitar sound and the background of children playing. The parts I like are the way the guitar does not even have to do a solo, but its presence on the song makes it sound warm and not intimidating. Each album had a wonderful surprise that led to a never ending field of the music genre. I was hooked, and I wanted people to hear it.

When the next album came out after TNT called Standards. I quickly picked it up. The one who introduced me to it quickly wanted a copy. I heard the feedback of the guitar and just thought how new and fresh this was too. All of the sudden the drums kicked in. When we listened to it, we both looked at each other like wow!!!! I then saw the tour with him and we felt unique to all the music that was out there. It was fun and fresh and most of all ours. No one in my group of friends will never experience the sound that is Tortoise.

My version of Southern Harmony

When I was in High School there was a band that hit me like a ton of bricks. I saw them on MTV covering Otis Redding so well, that I thought he was still alive. I even bought the album and went crazy hearing a band channel Rolling Stones, The Faces and Humble Pie and every part of good ole rock and roll. I even went to this club in New Britain CT to see them and they literally took me to another place. The place was classic rock that was funky and sludgy and most of all fun.

They took me over like nothing before. I liked them so much I went to see them again that same tour about 3 times. What was so great about The Black Crowes was the fact they revived the Hammond Organ and the use of piano and slide guitar. I really though that this would never happen again. Most of all the song they played, their own sounded fresh and right to the heart of rock and roll music. The music sounded like it was here to save the world. It had a sense of place that no other band.



Every time I listened to Shake Your Money Maker I just knew it was going to be a classic. Then the world ended when their second album came out. This was the classic that I meant. Even the title of the album suggest the sea is going to part and they will walk down the middle and make the world notice. I love The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, and I will say it out loud for all to share. It made so much notice to me that I still play the album once or twice a year just to remind me how wonderful they did. You hear this album and you say these words "Classic Rock Lives." I remember the day I bought it on tape and CD. I put the tape in the car and knew It had to be cranked up.

From the first guitar riff in the right ear sounding like it's live in the studio and then hearing the Wurlitzer on the other ear and then the rest of the band kicks in you know you have something special. The guitar solos by Rich Robinson and Marc Ford are amazing and raw and can I tell you the female back up singers sound like you just stepped back in 1971. Every song sounds so warm and gentle when you listen to it. It is so incredible that this album did come out in 1992.



Upon the first listen so many ideas come across your mind on how and why this album is so good. It has a live in the studio feel which is great and each song leads into the next so well that it even seems it was all done in one take. I am going to bounce around on the songs I like, but it should be warned that the whole album should be listened to start to finish and then played again.

The first song I totally love is "Sometimes Salvation." This song rocked the first time I heard it. The voice of Chris Robinson is sharp and the guitar parts are amazing and the whole band is one unit on this one. The solos by Marc or Chris do duty to this song. The song moves at the pace that all good rock songs should. This song shows how well The Black Crowes are good at their craft.

Another favorite song of mine on this album is a song called "No Speak No Slave." The guitar parts that echo through your headsets is not fluke and well done. The percussion at the beginning too is way cool. The bass line from Johnny Colt is pretty damn perfect. The song builds steam quite well and the lyrics are amazing. I think what is more fun is the fact the middle guitar solo passage. I never heard anything like that before. It starts about the 2:17 mark and goes for a while, It even sounds like this could have been a jam at one point and it should have too. The song is one the best The Black Crowes have ever done.



What is great about this album it does not let up not does it lose your attention. The first song sounds like it would open any song on any great album the song wonderful title "Sting Me" does just that it stings you and makes sure it has your attention. With all this listening and digestion it begs to be heard all the time, it makes you feel great when you listen to it. I will tell you this, when I saw this tour I knew I was in trouble. They were amazing and fun and these songs easily turned into jams that should have been on the album.

This album is a classic!! It might not fit in some music fans worlds, but it gave Rock new life when there was Grunge and really bad Rap. It stands out like no other album did for rock albums. Hearing the wonderful organ and percussion and great guitar parts, make you feel the organic of this album. So step back in time in 1992 and then go back even further to the year 1971 and hear how much fun rock and roll was when it was sloppy and greasy and saturated with Rolling Stones and Faces and Humble Pie and add some Black Crowes too. This is the true musical companion.

New Years Elasic Rock

If you asked me about this time last year about this album I would have no clue what you were talking about. Around new years of last year I was not listening to this wonderful British take on Miles Davis Electric/Fusion stuff. I had no idea what a joy this album was. Then the death of the lead man of this band did not even faze me either. It was not till I went to Nearfest to know more about this great stuff. Nearfest by the way is a music festival for progressive rock nuts. I have seen Gong, Van Der Graaf, Magma, Hawkwind and PFM. All these are major progressive rock kings. In one statement that I heard Nucleus should be there too. This hidden gem is something that should be talked about more often.

While at Nearfest, a friend who I see at this festival the last time I was here told me about them. He told me how if I liked Keith Tippett I should check out this album. He also told me how forward thinking this album was. While each person plays a part in the band, the band it's self is a nucleus. He told me they were Electric fusion Jazz without the Miles chaotic direction. It was something I needed to hear.



I took a chance and bought the CD. I also had them on a Vertigo records retrospective so I heard them without actually knowing about them. Sure enough I did. I played this retrospective many times with the intent to look up or find stuff I liked. It came to no surprise when it came to reading the notes with this retrospective that they were popular and had instant success.

Not long after I went to Nearfest I got an e-mail from that friend I saw there asking me what I thought. I told him I was amazed by the talent and the sound they had. I was also impressed by how the albums focus was not to copy what Miles was doing, but to take it a step farther. I told him that I wish I knew about this sooner. When I put this on today, it sounds like it had to be heard more. Everyone's playing is sharp and crisp. Ian Carr was a true original. When it came to know more about them they were featured in a Wire Primer.




The Wire Primer along with many listens gave me what the vision of this band was. It had a wonderful feel that was not Fusion or Psychedelic, but was more complex then that. The band could make these wonderful swirling sounds and Ian and the sax player Karl Jankins play the music they hear.

If you want to make a resolution to hear something new, then this is the album. This album has more feel after repeated listening. It is something you should not take serious, but it does help you that there is some music just waiting for your attention. This album may never put you in the popular status, but it might show that you are willing to try that something new, and that is important.