|
|
|
photo & text by nacrowe
out of their entire catalogue, ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (ELEKTRA, 1988) is unique in that it showcases METALLICA, for better or worse, in a moment of transition. you can definitely see the first three records (KILL EM ALL, RIDE THE LIGHTNING and MASTER OF PUPPETS) as an early version of the band made up of a triumvirate of talented songwriters and composers in that of JAMES HETFIELD, LARS ULRICH and CLIFF BURTON. with BURTON out of the picture due to his tragic untimely passing, essentially the rest of their career has been heralded by HETFIELD and ULRICH, with ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL their first foray.
and it shows. BURTON arguably was the most versatile musician within METALLICA and the most open to outside influences including CLASSICAL MUSIC. this is pretty much gone and what is left is a epically brutal album filled with complex time signatures that are constantly shifting, lyrics dealing with retribution, pain and suffering, as well as (famously) little to no bass guitar. this is an album that is pretty much all about HETFIELD and ULRICH and thus primarily guitars and drums. it is almost impossible to listen to this record and not think of how BURTON would have made these collections of riffs and song ideas more cohesive and impactful to the listener. taht is not to say that this record does not have standout tracks. "BLACKENED," "DYER'S EVE," "HARVESTER OF SORROW," "...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL" and of course "ONE" absolutely crush and are fan favorites to this day. me included. in fact i wouldnt even say that this record is a disappointment since it shows METALLICA at the their most uninhibited and least restrained peak. where it falls is only in comparison to their stellar previous two records, which arguably (in my opinion) are two of the best METAL albums ever bar none. it is a record only made more interesting given the follow-up a few years later that largely abandoned its complexity and ambition in favor of a more streamlined sound. i agree with those that add this record with the BURTON-era albums as the essential METALLICA records, and its been interesting see the risk-taking and artistic risks the band has made since. its just that the post ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL output has been not as convincing for fans of their 1980s output. i couldn't recommend ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL any more strongly. an essential THRASH METAL record that is absolutely required listening. 
0 Comments
photo manipulation by nacrowe
been really digging the NORTH CAROLINA ELECTROPOP duo SYLVAN ESSO recently. they have a FUN, LAIDBACK vibe that seems fairly reminiscent of FEIST, LYKKE LI or ST. VINCENT at their most CHILL yet still EXPERIMENTAL phases. i really love finding bands that love playing around with sonic textures and production techniques yet still keep their music listenable with solid melodies. and that is absolutely the case with SYLVAN ESSO.
definitely worth checking out. 
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating EAST BAY POP PUNK icons GREEN DAY!
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo & text by nacrowe
i was a senior in high school in KUWAIT when the 9/11 attacks happened and shortly thereafter i quickly departed the MIDDLE EAST to live with a relative in SACRAMENTO of all places. it was a jarring and disorientating time in my life, irrespective of geopolitics of the time. i was basically dropped overnight into a cultural backwater full of naive, privileged white kids and their parents. i got through it.
part of getting through it was developing a ravenous reading and listening schedule where i basically investigated everything that caught my interest. musically this included discovering and investigating POST PUNK, SHOEGAZE and TRIP HOP. it was an interesting time because not that long after i dove headfirst into groups like PORTISHEAD and MASSIVE ATTACK i saw TRICKY (with MARTINA TOPLEY-BIRD!) open for TOOL at the local stadium. the synergy of that moment was so cool, although some dick behind me was constantly asking his uninterested companion "who is this n----r?!", which is yet another reason why i will always continue to hate SACRAMENTO with a passion even over two decades later. i bought TRICKY's iconic debut MAXINQUAYE (4th & B'WAY, 1995) at the former TOWER RECORDS on columbus and bay near FISHERMAN'S WHARF in SAN FRANSCISCO right before flying home to NEW JERSEY after graduation in 2002. it was literally my last day in CALIFORNIA. along with several APHEX TWIN releases, NOTHING'S SHOCKING (WARNER BROS, 1988) by JANE'S ADDICTION or TROUT MASK REPLICA (STRAIGHT, 1969) by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, MAXINQUAYE is definitely one of the most transformational records i have ever heard. it is a deeply personal yet highly idiosyncratic record that seemingly splits the difference between HIP HOP, REGGAE and ALTERNATIVE ROCK. named in reference to his mother who passed when he was four, the record is very much thematically tied to his mixed-race experience growing up in a BRISTOL council estate with immigrant parents. being one of the architects of the TRIP HOP sound through his collaborations with MASSIVE ATTACK, of which he is an extended member, there is a sense of the music being the creative embodiment of a new, diverse and multi-cultural GREAT BRITAIN. with his debut MAXINQUAYE, the music is much less optimistic and seemingly the perfect sound-bed to his lyrics on "PONDEROSA," "OVERCOME," "AFTERMATH," "HELL IS AROUND THE CORNER" and "SUFFOCATED LOVE" that deal with personal themes of PARANOIA, OPPRESSION and SELF-DECEPTION. one of the defining traits of TRICKY as a songwriter is how he utilizes the female voice. the contributions of TOPLEY-BIRD cannot be understated, especially on haunted tracks such as the "PUMPKIN," "FEED ME," "ABBAON FAT TRACKS" and the PUBLIC ENEMY cover of "BLACK STEEL." its really interesting hearing a female singer voice the words of a male narrator, which is a juxtaposition that TRICKY has employed ever since with other collaborators. but never more affecting than with TOPLEY-BIRD on this record who holds her own and is arguably the star of the record. when i got into TRICKY in the early 2000s it was an aural journey of self-discovery that really made me rethink the inherent value of musical concepts like genre or audience expectation. his records were experiences into a headspace of someone who was lost but always searching, always on the hunt for the truth. he is one of my favorite artists and arguably MAXINQUAYE is his finest moment. i cannot recommend this record more empathically. it is most definitely worth revisiting and checking out. 
photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
a common theme throughout many documentaries concerning PUNK ROCK and its assorted, tangled family tree of sub-genres (HARDCORE, POP PUNK, POST HARDCORE, NEW YORK HARDCORE, etc) is the concern over what constitutes "success" to an artist by definition catering to a niche community. is it being INDEPENDENT and SELF-SUFFICIENT from the larger recording industry? is it making business decisions that cut back on PROFITABILITY or CONTROL but allow your fan base greater access to products, shows and the like? is being PUNK about not making money? to my knowledge, there is no right answer.
and that is the crux of what is at stake in the documentary PUNK ROCK EATS ITS OWN: A FILM ABOUT FACE TO FACE (ANTAGONIST FILMS, 2006), released shortly after the breakup (which would end up being an extended years-long hiatus) of the veteran SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUNK ROCK group FACE TO FACE in 2004. the film is as much about the business and cultural forces that have led to numerous internal lineup changes as it is about the career of the band itself. on the face of it, the band enjoyed a mid-level career where they were signed to independents and mid-major labels (most notably FAT WRECK CHORDS and VAGRANT) and were able to sustain headlining tours for the better part of a decade from the mid 1990s through the mid 2000s. as with most films about this pre-internet period, where RECORD SALES and the PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION of product in stores was a paramount concern, it only shows how inverted the whole pyramid has become in the years since. back then you toured to sell records. now you put out records at a loss to make money on the road through ticket and merchandise sales. that obvious fact aside, the through line of the documentary is how the permutations in the lineup mirrored a refinement in focus and intention of purpose with the remaining members. when a founding member became a purist and was philosophically not on board, he was let go to pursue other pursuits (with PULLEY and NO USE FOR A NAME among others). another member becomes too much of a rock star and indulges in selfish behavior detrimental to the unit, same deal. hell, even a member left voluntarily to honorably spend more time with his young children. as a film PUNK ROCK EATS ITS OWN is pretty bare-bones with extensive interviews with former and then-current members. its spare, no-frills aesthetic plays into the authenticity of the bands itself, who largely escape vanity with badly lit and recorded, horrendously angled, spur of the moment interviews that get at the heart of the band: their connection to the fans. i only wish they had extended the interviews beyond the band and their manager to other bands and fans. if you are a fan of PUNK ROCK or the 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK explosion, than this documentary is worthy of further investigation. enjoy. BOOK REVIEW | "BETWEEN TWO FIRES: TRUTH, AMBITION AND COMPROMISE IN PUTIN'S RUSSIA" BY JOSHUA YAFFA4/25/2022 
photo & text by nacrowe
much is being said about the state of the RUSSIAN government under VLADIMIR PUTIN's regime, especially in the wake of his recent invasion of neighboring UKRAINE and the senseless barbarism that has unfolded within public view. and rightfully so.
but what about the RUSSIAN people? what are their lives like under his regime? the recent book BETWEEN TWO FIRES: TRUTH, AMBITION AND COMPROMISE IN PUTIN'S RUSSIA (CROWN, 2020) by MOSCOW correspondent for THE NEW YORKER, JOSHUA YAFFA, delves deep into this question and exposes a compromised CIVIL SOCIETY whose participants are rendered complicit by their involvement with an ever more authoritarian state apparatus. specifically YAFFA reports on the coercive political squeeze rendered on RUSSIAN television producers, orthodox priests, humanitarian workers, CRIMEAN zookeepers, artists and historians under PUTIN's reign. within all these aspects of RUSSIAN life, their is a FAUSTIAN BARGAIN that pits ACCESS and INFLUNCE against OSTRACIZATION ostracized and EXILE. seemingly the most corrosive aspect of this state of affairs is how this bunker mentality fixes itself in the wider population, in which CYNICISM and a certain brand of NIHILISM takes root whereby you question the motives of all successful people, both domestic and foreign. when you have a population that has lost its sense of national cohesion, you have a weakened political construct that is easier to be controlled by an authoritarian like PUTIN. which gets at the subtext i inferred through this book. to me this community corroding mentality and its related strategic breakdown of national identity seems eerily MAGA-esque. just reading about in detail about these various compromised aspects of RUSSIAN CIVIL SOCIETY and the corrupting influence of PUTIN's regime made me consider a future DYSTOPIA where DONALD TRUMP and his acolytes have dominated all manner of national discourse. where one is in a constant internal discussion of how to satiate an ever-shifting party line that has no rhyme or reason. where subservience and loyalty to the state is the only currency that matters. i feel like i have lived this before in theocratic regimes in MYANMAR and KUWAIT as well as outright military dictatorships like VENEZUELA and NIGERIA. but these corrosive systems have known, discernible boundaries with philosophical underpinnings (all of which i disagree with). in RUSSIA and TRUMP NATION, its a lot more vague and mercurial in nature with the potential to morph the identity and moral compass of its population. to my ears this sounds like elderly ALBANIANS i met during my time as a PEACE CORPS volunteer, who wished for the return of an ENVER HOXHA-like regime to return and provide a sense of NATIONALISTIC pride and IDENTITY that a weakened CAPITALIST economy in a post-COMMUNIST world order couldnt provide. i hear desperation. and it is that sense of desperation that rings more true today given current events in EASTERN EUROPE. BETWEEN TWO FIRES is a deeply compelling book that i am not remotely doing justice and is well worth investigation for anyone compelled to consider the extent to which genuinely authoritarian governments corrode their populations sense of PURPOSE and IDENTITY. i know i will return to this book in the future. highly recommended. 
parodies by nacrowe
join us TONIGHT at 6PM EST for an all new episode of DEER GOD RADIO on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC with a playlist celebrating the notoriously perfectionist ENGLISH record producer GIL NORTON!
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already, make sure and download the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo & text by nacrowe
LIMP BIZKIT gets a bad name, which is probably more than well deserved. the dull-witted MISOGYNY and general WHITE PRIVILEDGE frat-boy behavior and incessant whining by frontman FRED DURST has not aged well in the least, not to say it was that welcome back when their debut THREE DOLLAR BILL, Y'ALL$ (INTERSCOPE, 1997) came out in the late 1990s.
DURST is a terrible frontman. i believe that is common knowledge at this point. so i want to go beyond him and discuss what i like about this album and LIMP BIZKIT in general, which are the actual musicians in the band. i feel wholeheartedly that LIMP BIZKIT has one of the most talented (and criminally underrated) rhythm sections of their era. starting with WES BORLAND who is an absolute wizard at guitar. his highly IDIOSYNCRATIC style has an IMPRESSIONISTIC and layered PAINTERLY vibe that feels like a hybrid between PRIMUS, WEEN, SLAYER and THE CURE. the dude is incredibly talented (just check out his superior side projects BLACK LIGHT BURNS and BIG DUMB FACE as well as moonlighting gigs with everyone from MARILYN MANSON and FROM FIRST TO LAST to JONATHAN DAVIS and COMBICHRIST). his LES CLAYPOOL-inspired double-hand tapping technique is all over this record, most prominently on tracks like "STALEMATE," "INDIGO FLOW" and "SOUR." in terms of big riffs, there is a certain angular POST PUNK flair, which are absolutely scorching despite the fact that they are usually in odd time signatures. BORLAND is treasure that modern guitarists respect despite the mind-bending stupidity of DURST in much the same way people separate the bigoted views of PHIL ANSELMO from the stellar musicianship of DIMEBAG DARRELL. JOHN OTTO has a FORCEFUL, hard-pounding snap to his drumming that is pretty iconic to their sound, especially on heavier tracks like "COUNTERFEIT," "POLLUTION" and "CLUNK." in later albums he would develop and integrate modern double-bass into his arsenal, but this record seems to be a bit more hands-centric in how forcefully he hits the toms and snare, and with speed and precision. not to be forgotten are the memorable SLINKY bass-lines of SAM RIVERS which provide a sense of grounding, but also much needed FUNK to the festivities. tracks like "STUCK," "EVERYTHING" and even the GEORGE MICHAEL cover "FAITH" showcase keen sense of DYNAMICS and an artistic freedom to float in-between the guitar heroics of BORLAND and the hard-hitting groundwork of OTTO. taken as a whole, the rhythm section is UNRESTRAINED, UNPREDICTABLE and UNRELENTING. just too bad about that singer situation. we're talking MIKE LOVE / DAVID DRAIMAN / BONO / CHRIS MARTIN / IVAN MOODY / SCOTT STAPP level terrible. although id love to hear BONO front LIMP BIZKIT. that might work. 
photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
with LOS ANGELES INDIE POP band BEAUTY QUEEN the unquestionable star attraction is the HAWAII-born singer KATIE IANNITELLO's lilting voice. the fact that such is undergirded by faint andfragile reverb-drenched guitar melodies make her songs come across as KODACHROME-tinged reflections on youth and the bittersweet melancholy of nostalgia.
i feel INDIE POP artists work best when there is a touch of vinegar to all the aural sugar and BEAUTY QUEEN definitely have that dynamic. essentialy the sonic equivalent of watching THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (PARAMOUNT, 1993). definitely worth checking out. 
parody by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating the experimental FREE JAZZ pioneer ORNETTE COLEMAN!
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!
photo & text by nacrowe
i really believe that the capacity to appreciate and enjoy music is intertwined with the ability to have one's CONSCIOUSNESS expanded and altered. and not in some trivial psychedelic sense, but rather as a permanent EMOTIONAL marker in one's progression through life. case in point for me is the seminal NINE INCH NAILS' record THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL (NOTHING/INTERSCOPE, 1994), which honestly i did not get on any level the first ten or fifteen times i heard it as a young teenager. at that point i was not familiar with INDUSTRIAL or ELECTRONIC MUSIC and was still very much expecting traditional song structures and familiar sonic textures from rock music in general. this record was something entirely different.
its funny to me now but the track that really clicked for me is arguably the most EXPERIMENTAL and DEHUMANIZED on the record, that being "REPTILE" which is still arguably my favorite NINE INCH NAILS song period. with its repetitive, future robotic percussion and ABRASIVE and UNRELENTING slashing guitar-work, the song very much forwards the lyrical conceit of a ROMANTIC LOVE that both DEVOURS and ultimately CONTAMINATES the narrator of the song. it is a brutal song and the centerpiece of THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL record, which itself seems obsessed with calling into question the IMPURE motivations involved in ROMANTIC LOVE and HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS in general. although before it in the track-listing, i often felt that the antidote to NIHILISM of "REPTILE" was the relative SERENITY of "A WARM PLACE" which sonically attempts to mimic the emotions surrounding the hard-fought REHABILITATION of one's diminished sense of HUMANITY. it was those two songs that spoke to me as a teenager living in NIGERIA listening to it on tape as i experienced the DEPRAVITY and indiscriminate wonton PAIN on daily walking display living in a military dictatorship. this record was the soundtrack to my time seeing markets on fire (which happened when the police didnt get their regular bribes) and dead bodies on the side of the road. i really feel that TRENT REZNOR was relaying something personally deeply DECAYED within his TORTURED PSYCHE when he wrote THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL, but for me attempting to make sense of the blatant CORRUPTION and heroic SURVIVALISM that i saw on a daily basis, this record in particular felt like an apt sonic projection of what i lived in real-time. it is definitely an emotional marker for me of not only a time in my life, but of what the concept of struggle itself feels like. whether that be UNREQUITED LOVE, DRUG ABUSE, living under a DESPOTIC GOVERNMENT or stinging personal MORAL FAILINGS. this record really gets to the heart of that feeling and wallows in it through tracks like "HURT," "MR. SELF DESTRUCT," "CLOSER," "PIGGY," "RUINER," "MARCH OF THE PIGS" and "I DO NOT WANT THIS." for me though, the emotional poles of this record show that somewhere between the INHUMANITY of "REPTILE" and the struggle for PURIFICATION of "A WARM PLACE" is the scope of human lived experience. THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL is a seminal record that very much lives up to the hype. one of my favorite all-time records that is worth of further investigation. definitely worth checking out again. 
photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
its been documented that when PUNK ROCK migrated from the initial late 1970s HOLLYWOOD scene south to ORANGE COUNTY, that the scene became less artsy and inclusive and more REACTIONARY and VIOLENT. the music turned essentially into a soundtrack to the interactive slam dancing in the crowd which replaced the pogoing of before. once bored jocks and the irrepressibly unruly (skinheads, white power, etc.) infiltrated the scene did things truly DEGENERATE with the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUNK ROCK and the local authorities.
the documentary CLOCKWORK ORANGE COUNTY (ENDURANCE PICTURES, 2012) recounts this transition through the history of the legendary HUNTINGTON BEACH venue THE CUCKOO'S NEST as told by its owner JERRY ROACH and members of local bands T.S.O.L., BLACK FLAG, THE CIRCLE JERKS, AGENT ORANGE, THE ADOLESCENTS, THE CROWD and THE VANDALS and notable fans like SKATEBOARDING legends STEVE OLSON and DUANE PETERS. what transpires is a narrative of bored SUBURBAN, disaffected youth looking for an outlet to burn off some steam that comes from being a product of such a culturally and socially conservative enclave. HARDCORE was a reaction to that tired social milieu as well as the REAGAN ADMINISTRATION and coalesced into one hell of a youth phenomena. i grew up in ORANGE COUNTY until my family left in 6th grade and to tell you the truth, we never looked back. i remember telling my basketball coach that i was moving to AFRICA and his wife thought that such was a state. seriously. that is the level of naivete and ignorance that was endemic in that environment some 10-15 years after the events that transpire in this film. to say that these kids were raised in a protective cocoon is not hyperbole. ORANGE COUNTY is an inward-facing community that historically is a bastion for regressive REPUBLICAN politics and social conservatism. this film basically allows a view of how such a closed system reacts badly to a new burgeoning YOUTH CULTURE. as they do with all other aspects of foreign influence, they didnt react well. in fact they shut that shit down. in some ways the HUNTINGTON BEACH scene presented is a microcosm of AMERICAN politics writ large. decades later the contents of this documentary do not feel all that much removed from the unrepentant racist and blatant xenophobic ethos of the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION and MAGA world. it feels like our current chaos incarnate. just saying. 
photo & text by nacrowe
touring is an activity that often gets romanticized in the public consciousness since it reeks of personal freedom and the seemingly endless enticing possibilities that come with a constant change in scenery. the REALITY is much different, as witnessed in NEW YORK CITY comedian TODD BARRY's tour memoir THANK YOU FOR COMING TO HATTIESBURG: ONE COMEDIAN'S TOUR OF NOT-QUITE-THE-BIGGEST CITIES IN THE WORLD (SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2017) which effectively journals his time on the road at small secondary and tertiary stateside markets.
this memoir is less about his craft as a writer and comedian and more about trying to not get ripped off by small-time promotors, enduring multiple connecting flights and combatting BOREDOM on tour by seeking quality COFFEE and FOOD, as well as small museums and eccentric roadside attractions. the nearest comparison i could relate to this memoir is HENRY ROLLINS' similarly constructed GET IN THE VAN: ON THE ROAD WITH BLACK FLAG (review linked HERE) which follows the personal hardships of a life on the road with no guard rails or safety nets. BLACK FLAG at the time was trailblazing a new path and establishing a network of nontraditional venues and communities and ROLLINS account gets into the MINUTIAE of what said travails meant on a day-to-day basis. it also gets at the PERSONAL TOLL of such an extreme NOMADIC existence, which is similarly relayed in BARRY's less extreme memoir. you really get the sense in THANK YOU FOR COMING TO HATTIESBURG, that the sheer REPETITION of the experience is what leads to all these cycles of experiencing new physical situations, such as commenting on the quality of hotel accommodations, backstage green rooms, bathroom cleanliness, venue layout and REFRESHMENTS available on site. i imagine once you have your jokes down and your routine polished, the routine physical details of your predictable day-to-day existence are what take over, which is the opposite of the romanticization of being on the road for a living. which is the point. but i think BARRY is doing a service in promoting and, in essence, glorifying these small venues in out-of-the-way cities and towns in his memoir. it shows that meaningful ART and CULTURE can happen anywhere, even ASBURY PARK or rural MISSISSIPPI. kind of ironic it took a NEW YORKER to make that point. THANK YOU FOR COMING TO HATTIESBURG is definitely a quirky yet thoroughly enjoyable look at life on the road and as a solitary entertainer. i dont know how standup comedians do it, i would be absolutely petrified having to walk into new surroundings and attempt to make a room full of strangers laugh. respect. 
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO focused on the post-BRITISH INVASION stateside radio format of CLASSIC ROCK!
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo & text by nacrowe
not gonna lie here, my initial reaction to most songs from the debut SPICE GIRLS' album SPICE (VIRGIN, 1996) as an adult is one of viscerally excruciating awkwardness surrounding memories of cringe-inducing junior high dances and the transformational unreality of living through puberty abroad. i speak specifically of singles like "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE," "SAY YOU'LL BE THERE," "MAMA" and of course, "WANNABE." this record in essence is the soundtrack to my most awkward moments as a young teenage in NIGERIA.
much has been written about the savvy marketing and fabricated nature of the SPICE GIRLS, but that angle doesnt really interest me. especially in our current digital world where artists are more involved with marketing schemes and global cross-branding efforts. what makes this record interesting is how said marketing actually worked on a global scale. i mean, i remember AFRICAN girls going as SCARY SPICE for halloween in the mid-1990s so on some level there was buy-in to the SPICE GIRLS concept. to some degree their sense of diversity and inclusivity is strikingly contemporary, especially given the tacit approval of LGBTQ relationships in the "2 BECOME 1" video when such was still very much a taboo subject. part of me finds such efforts authentic, as no bigwig would sign on to such a controversial position. the global SPICE GIRLS phenomena is also interesting in that its heyday was concurrent with another outpouring of GREAT BRITANNIA revivalism in that of BRITPOP. but whereas the BRITPOP movement was largely a boys club with headlining acts like OASIS, PULP and BLUR (yes i know about ELASTICA and SLEEPER) and had attendant concerns surrounding LAD CULTURE and explicit and implicit MISOGYNY, the SPICE GIRLS phenomena represented a more safe and empowering alternative. especially for women. i have anecdotal memories of girls i knew in the mid-1990s abroad who were obsessed with the SPICE GIRLS, who had a favorite very much like they would a member of other collective singing groups. and for them the GIRL POWER feminist sloganeering actually meant something. its no wonder that a disparate array of modern pop artists ranging from CHARLI XCX, BEYONCE, SAM SMITH, ADELE, LADY GAGA and BILLIE EILISH, all of whom have been vocal about their love of the SPICE GIRLS. so who am i to judge? if the SPICE GIRLS had a part in empowering this new generation of female and LGBTQ artists to rise up and be heard then i am all for it. and i would be lying if i said such influence makes me reconsider those very very awkward memories of my childhood shaking my head during middle school dances. 
photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
in this digital age where gaining exposure is the often the deliberate result of some pre-manufactured sonic or visual gimmick and marketing strategy, it feels almost REVOLUTIONARY that longstanding AUSTIN-based INDIE ROCK power trio UME are renowned for writing and performing great songs. end stop.
UME is led by guitarist LAUREN LARSON and her songwriting feels very much in keeping with great ROCK N ROLL and FOLK-based songwriters before her like LIZ PHAIR, BILLY BRAGG, CHRISSIE HYNDE, ELVIS COSTELLO or even the recent AUSSIE upstart COURTNEY BARNETT. her songs are filled with PERSONAL lyrics and indelibly MEMORABLE choruses, which is all i can ask for as a listener. definitely worth checking out. 
parodies by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO celebrating WASHINGTON DC independent label CARPARK RECORDS!
past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO are available here at the DEER GOD website as well as in the MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC archives. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo & text by nacrowe
SURFER ROSA (4AD, 1988) by PIXIES is one of those landmark albums that is almost MYTHICAL in how seemingly foundational and elemental it remains to this day in the sound and appearance of modern-day INDIE ROCK writ large. it should also be pointed out that its allure is wholly separate from the force-multiplier that the later NIRVANA-led 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK revolution and global youth culture phenomenon that subsequently grafted itself onto its legacy.
whats always been compelling about SURFER ROSA sonically is its ingenious and subtle use of DYNAMICS. in the years since its release the received formula has been dumbed-down to a mantra of "soft verse, loud chorus" but such a rote description doesnt really do justice to the sense of EMOTIONAL CATHARTHIS that comes across in HAUNTED classics like "GIGANTIC," "BREAK MY BODY," "RIVER EUPHRATES," "BONE MACHINE," "CACTUS" and especially "WHERE IS MY MIND?" it could be said that the sound of the band is as much about the LAYERED vocal interplay between BLACK FRANCIS and bassist KIM DEAL as it is the weaving, ANGULAR guitar work of FRANCIS and JOEY SANTIAGO. in my mind those two dynamics are constantly orbiting around each other like two pulsating neutron stars. a shift in the dynamic of one pair affects the other. on a purely aural level, experiencing those two dynamics is UNIQUE and consistently surprising. it should also be stated that the IMPRESSIONISTIC and DADA-esque OPAQUENESS of the PIXIES' lyrical content is the other highlight of this record as well as their catalogue in general. i couldnt tell you what SURFER ROSA is about or what the explicit intentions were of BLACK FRANCIS when he wrote lyrics to "BONE MACHINE," "WHERE IS MY MIND?" or "BREAK MY BODY," but on a VISCERAL and purely EMOTIONAL level i understand these songs. for me their emotional resonance is not sullied by their direct meaning and instead act as markers to guide us through the EXTREME DYNAMICS of the music itself. i think this is important because when i likewise listen to lyrical bent of other bands like RADIOHEAD, TOOL, MODEST MOUSE, NIRVANA or even OASIS there is a sense that the lead singer is functioning as another instrument rather than the conveyor of words and meaning. i dont believe that the PIXIES invented such but to my ears SURFER ROSA is undoubtedly a high watermark of said approach. SURFER ROSA is required listening in my opinion. it is definitely worthy of further investigation and should be a compelling listen to anyone familiar with 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK and 2000s INDIE ROCK from which this record in particular has had definite lasting impact. enjoy. 
photo manipulation & text by nacrowe
there is an arc to INSULAR art and music scenes as they become discovered and heralded by forces outside the COMMUNITY, especially in the pre-internet age. such was famously seen in SEATTLE in the early 1990s whereby a geographically secluded region ironically provided the necessary INSULATION for a cultural evolution to take place with the advent of what became marketed as ALTERNATIVE ROCK. what is very interesting is there was very much a concurrent scene taking place in the COACHELLA VALLEY more than 100 miles east of LOS ANGELES.
DESERT AGE (BACKWOODS, 2016) is a documentary the celebrates that COMMUNITY of artists and musicians associated with the desert scene of the 1980s and early 1990s that initiated and supported that cultural movement up until its collapse as it was discovered and ultimately infiltrated by outsiders. notable interview participants include musicians such as SEAN WHEELER (MUTUAL HATRED / ZEZO ZECE ZADFRACK / THROW RAG), MARIO "BOOMER" LALLI (DEAD ISSUE / ACROSS THE RIVER / YAWNING MAN), BRANT BJORK (KYUSS), BRIAN MALONEY (UNSOUND), PAUL MITCHELL (TARGET 13), IAN TAYLOR (UNSOUND), SCOTT REEDER (DEAD ISSUE / ACROSS THE RIVER / KYUSS), JESSE HUGHES (EAGLES OF DEATH METAL), DAVE GROHL (FOO FIGHTERS / NIRVANA) and JOSH HOMME (KYUSS) among many others. what seemed to mark this scene was its DIY PUNK ROCK ethic and internal celebration of EXPERIMENTATION and INDIVIDUALITY. there was no arms race of sorts, as in the nearby LOS ANGELES PUNK ROCK scene, to be the hardest and most HARDCORE band in the area. instead bands were mutually encouraged to seek out their own sound. part of this was just the nature of being in a small closed COMMUNITY with limited resources. famously LALLI had a generator that allowed for concerts to take place beyond the city limits in the vast space of the open desert. that unique venue alone spurred INNOVATION with the upcoming musicians of the area, who had to tackle the concept of playing in such an open venue. at these "generator shows" it would not be odd to have a PROGRESSIVE band play next to a PUNK band and so forth. the ETHOS really was EXPERIMENTATION and seeking out ones own sonic signature. having shows outside the city limits, although LIBERATING in one sense, also allowed for certain local lawless, violent elements (biker gangs, meth dealers) to take advantage of the situation. i was happy to say that this film did not devolve into an unofficial KYUSS hagiography, as they are the most famous direct export of the scene by far (as the antecedent root for the globally successful QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE). this was my fear and i was glad to see that such an an itch was not scratched. instead the majority of the film outlines how the efforts of key scene initiators like the older SEAN WHEELER and MARIO "BOOMER" LALLI laid the groundwork for the cultural revolution that followed. this film is largely a celebration of their efforts to promote art and music in a barren cultural island whose true identity was the very meth-addled inversion of the popular iconography associated with celebrity playgrounds like nearby PALM SPRINGS. interesting film worth your time if you have any interest in the desert scene or ALTERNATIVE and STONER ROCK in general. 
photo & text by nacrowe
internal band dynamics are always a tricky thing. there are tons of examples of bands that from the outside looking in seem like a consolidated front made of co-equal partners yet such is far from the case. probably no modern METAL musician is more defined by this in the popular consciousness than former METALLICA guitarist and MEGADETH frontman DAVE MUSTAINE.
his memoir MUSTAINE (IT BOOKS, 2010) written with veteran scribe JOE LAYDEN is very much defined the the shifting internal dynamics of not one, but two iconic THRASH METAL bands and provides a much-needed counterpoint to the popular narrative of this influential yet highly CONTROVERSIAL musician. i'll admit right at the beginning that i am not the biggest fan of MUSTAINE. in interviews he always comes across as a condescending BRAGGART and an unrepentant EGOIST, and that was before his conversion to CHRISTIANITY and conservative politics. his voice and his attitude towards his peers has always been GRATING, but i will say that the dude is supremely gifted as a guitarist and a songwriter. it was no doubt his sense of abandon on his instrument and his reckless behavior that initially lifted METALLICA from obscurity and helped establish the nascent THRASH METAL scene in the 1980s. MUSTAINE as a historical figure is absolutely instrumental in the evolution of METAL music. period. its interesting how much ink in this memoir is dedicated to the internal strifes of both bands. METALLICA was a band of alcoholics that discarded one of their members, MUSTAINE, in essence for being a mean drunk. that is popular story, but its interesting that MUSTAINE points to his substantial songwriting credits during his period with the band to suggest that it may have been more about artistic control. in essence METALLICA had three main songwriters in JAMES HETFIELD, LARS ULRICH and MUSTAINE. one theme that is carried throughout this memoir is MUSTAINE's sense of being an underdog, which is rooted in his growing up very POOR, without a father figure and with a mother whose identity got taken over by the JEHOVAH's WITNESS community. HETFIELD had similar circumstances with his deadbeat father and a mother that passed on after being taken advantage of by the beliefs of her CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST community. he is portrayed as being psychologically WEAK, UNASSERTIVE and essentially a patsy to ULRICH, who in turn is portrayed as privileged, wealthy son of a bohemian DANISH TENNIS professional. ULRICH is effectively presented as being a duplicitous MACHIAVELLIAN figure (which is probably pretty accurate). METALLICA was very much a surrogate family for MUSTAINE and his dismissal echoed the rejection of his father towards his family. no doubt it was a traumatic effect and was a primal event in his career and personal relationship trajectory thereafter. but what i found more interesting was his reaction to this dismissal, fair or not. he created a new family in MEGADETH of which he was the sole leader, whose only other longtime member (absent two breaks of which we are now living in the second) is DAVID ELLEFSON whom he deems as dismissively as "junior." the rest of the band throughout is made of a revolving cast of opportunists, scabs, legends and METAL lifers. what struck me in particular is how MUSTAINE never questions his own motives, paving over bad decisions during his many drug-addled years as MISGUIDED or MISINFORMED but not ill-intentioned. he comes across as incredibly naive and largely absent-minded or uninterested in the financial and emotional needs of his bandmates. throughout the memoir he is his absentee father. he wants the leadership and the acclaim but none of the responsibility that comes with it. its interesting that he, more than any other METAL figure, should have been aware of the trauma that comes with bad leadership in a band setting. yet he just kept the cycle going. the biggest bummer is the whole born again CHRISTIAN nonsense at the conclusion of the book in which he considers whether it is ethical or not to play with "satanic" bands. that is just so beyond LAME. he is an artistic leader who can tour with whomever he wants, but it just feels antithetical to ROCK N ROLL in some basic core manner. it also presumes his own purity as a CHRISTIAN which is beyond DISAPPOINTING and, again, just LAME. thats my reaction to this memoir basically. MUSTAINE is a supremely gifted musician who deserves credit for his achievements and contributions to THRASH METAL, but as a person he just comes across as an ass. even in his own memoir in which he is trying to counteract the popular opinion of him being an ass. its beyond CONFOUNDING. go figure. 
|
May 2022
All
|
