Brant Bjork - Somera (2007)

It looks like Brant will be playing the NXNE festival in Toronto on June 13 at the legendary El Mocambo. I might have to go.

SOMERA

High Times

Psychedelic States - Florida (in the '60's) vol 2

As usual, there are a few cuts that are pretty tedious going on the second installment of Gear Fab's fab Psychedelic States series, but a greater number that are where it's at, or at least where it was for hip teens in 1960s Florida. Vol. 2 actually marks a slight improvement from the first volume because, while it has fewer absolute highs on the order of Neighborhood of Love's irresistible punker "Miss Blue Three Quarter" or the stunning free-form psych of Blues Messengers' "High Wednesday," it is a bit more consistent overall. And even the most mediocre tunes are usually redeemed by whiplash rave-ups, boiling freak-outs, or fuzz solos. There are fine approximations of Dave Clark Five (the Tropics), the Rascals (the wonderfully named Little Willie & the Adolescents), and the Zombies (Sounds Unlimited), and even a pretty decent pale Archie Bell imitation (the Mind's Eye). There are some nice Rolling Stones-worthy riffs (the Missing Links' "Run and Hide," although the riff outshines the actual song), professional-quality folk-rock (the Birdwatchers), and cheeky lyrical allusions (prostitution, on the Lost Generation's "I'd Gladly Pay"). And some of this truly is snot-nosed and amateurish in the actual spirit of the words: the Mods featured a pair of 12 year olds, including the lead vocalist! After awhile you're bound to grow weary of the horny, girl-done-me-wrong sentiments, yet that is also what makes this stuff so much fun. And then there are some truly breathtaking, two-minute, spit-and-venom should-a-been classics: the Rockin' Roadrunners' "Down," on which the band coaxes some amazing psychedelic sounds out of their guitars; the unhinged Arthur Brown craziness of the Purple Underground's bad-trip "Count Back"; and Cosmic Camel's brilliantly titled gothic, lo-fi psych-raga, "The Suzanne Love Mirage." The most interesting thing on here may be the Soul Trippers' version of "King Bee," on which the teen quintet sounds as if, by God, it has managed to borrow the soul of an old bluesman. (Local radio stations stopped playing it when they found out the band was white.) Not even the early Stones or Yardbirds could manage that trick. Some of this is, frankly, brain-cell-depleting stuff. But then who needs those anyway.

FLORIDA VOL 2

Pass the Wine

Electric Mud - Southern Comfort Mixer VOL1

The official day of summer is just around the corner. That means cold beer. BBQ mesquite. Late night campfires. Fishing. Road trips. Train tracks. Swiming in the lake...and last but not least... monkey ass sex in the tent. So here's some southern comfort music to set the scene. Electric Mud's Southern Vibe Mixer.

For you Ty.... and and all the Skydogs of the world.



01 - Countach - Frozen Waters - 04 - Passin' On
02 - countach - as the crow flies - 03 - can't shake this
03 - Gideon Smith And The Dixie Damned - outerspace girl
04 - Grady - Spadina (Who Is Loving You Tonight)
05 - Gideon Smith And The Dixie Damned - draggin' the river
06 - Weird Owl - King Of Flowers (e.s.p.)
07 - Left Lane Cruiser - down the road
08 - Honcho - Hangover blues
09 - Weird Owl - White Hidden Fire
10 - Gideon Smith And The Dixie Damned - daughter of the moon
11 - Foreword by Willie Nelson (I used it as an Afterward - mud)

Enjoy the summer of 2008!!!

ELECTRIC MUD

Psychedelic States - Florida (in the '60's) vol 1

As a continuation of Gear Fab's trawl through the backwaters of the '60s American teen movement, new series Psychedelic States, rather like AIP's mammoth High in the Mid Sixties, focuses on regional band scenes. This, the first volume, investigates mid- to late-'60s music from Florida, collecting together the area's movers and shakers ó many of which have never been compiled. And with 28 songs that take in a huge array of styles, the venture is for the main part very successful. The Canadian Rogues' Northwest punk sound and the Shades' far more polished pop style show that in Florida it wasn't only one style that the local youths took to. "Xcedrin Headache # 69" (Mouse & the Boys), one of the most wigged-out numbers here, is an
urgently snarled, drugged-out plea with searing fuzz guitar and a stomping beat. As psychedelic '60s punk goes, it doesn't get any better than this! The obscure Miami outfit the Fewdle Lords take a baroque influence, while the Maundy Quintet excel as purveyors of soft folk-rock with a Byrds feel. The Squiremen's dramatic piËce de rÈsistance ("Who in the World") airs just how the influences of the likes of the Beatles, the Left Banke, and Nazz gave bands who had previously been playing garage rock something to really test their skills with in the latter half of the decade. Their effort fuses melody with melancholy to create the kind of spine-tingling intensity that the Choir were achieving at the same time up in Cleveland. And in a completely different field, the manic semi-instrumental "Miss Blue Three Quarter (3/4)" by Neighbourhood of Love is among
the toughest punk riffery to be heard ó ever! For the majority of this collection, the mixture of folk-rock, garage punk, psychedelia, and pop show that although Florida has never really been praised as one of America's most regarded regions for '60s rock, it was, in fact, quite happening.

FLORIDA