On the Town, Checking out the Kyle Sowashes, Juanita & Juan and their friends

Last week, the rock and the roll - or permutations thereof - were happening on back-to-back nights, and I made it out to both.

The Kyle Sowashes hail from Columbus, Ohio, fronted by the band's namesake (that's him in the two photos below). In some ways they're keeping an Ohio tradition alive by cranking out anthemic power chord music with a lyrical sensibility that is both reflective and humorous at the same time. It reminds me the things I like about bygone bands like Great Plains, who managed to filter a post-punk literate sensibility with a straightforward rock delivery. 

I can also see why Kyle Sowash and Karl Hendricks appreciated each other - their lyrical matter is drawn from a similar observance of people and things around them. Yet while Hendricks often took a literary angle with his songwriting, Sowash is content to turn what feels like regular conversations into song lyrics. Hence he comes with titles like "I'm Sorry, But We've Done Everything We Can At this Point" and "It Really Doesn't Matter What You Think," both of which kick off the latest Kyle Sowashes' album Start Making Sense, which has a cover that either tips the hat or thumbs its nose at the source material. 

The KSs shared a bill at the Spirit Lodge with locals Red Star Sky and the Zells, getting the Coveted Second Slot on the bill, which is nice for a Thursday night show. Red Star Sky has moved away a bit from the alt-country sound that could be felt in their early shows, to a bigger, dramatic sound that relies heavily on frontman Corey Layman's guitar work, which is now has a strong foil in Pittsburgh veteran guitarist Alexei Plotnicov.

If the Kyle Sowashes take a light-hearted approach to the lyrics, their focus on the music is anything but light. "I Guess I'm Still Weird About It" launched the set with stop-start pair of ringing chords and from there, the energy never ceased. The band segued the early part of the the set together, an admirable task, still leaving room for intros and wisecracks. The Zells proved a good followup to Kyle and the gang, with their own batch of catchy indie pop, bolstered by a three-guitar attack that never got heavy and a set that, as always with them, drew on songs by several members of the band. 

*

On Friday night, Juanita and Juan set up shop at the Government Center, The name comes from the third verse of Eno's "Baby's On Fire" and also from the Hispanic origins of the two performers, punk rock legends known as Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers. Their previous work with the Bags and the Cramps, respectively, leaned more towards punk rock and psychobilly. But Juanita and Juan came off more like a lounge act, in the best way. Alice's keyboards had kind of smooth feel and her partner in crime had a drum machine setting the tempos. Their casual conversation onstage with the audience drew on the wild adventures of their youth. 

That same sense of the past crept into songs like "The Prez," Kid Congo's hilarious and charming tale of being the West Coast president of the Ramones fan club; and "DBWMGWD," Alice's reflection of being saved from the perils of adolescence by a certain British performer. (The initial abbreviate "David Bowie Was My Gateway Drug.") 

Before and after the show, both of them mingled with the audience of long time fans, posing for photos, signing books (like mine!) and generally carrying on that same spirit of enthusiasm that inspired them back in the early Hollywood days. On my way out, I tapped Kid Congo and told him that, back in high school when I was listening to the Cramps, I never would have guessed that he was such a ham. And we laughed.

Special mention should also go to openers Clickbait, who got the evening started with some taut, groovy punk rock that reminded me of bands like Gang of Four, ESG and PiL. Vocalist Sandra Yau was a strong presence onstage, banging on a cymbal to kick off "For Sale," singing through an old telephone for a few songs and crashing the hand-held cymbals on a few songs. I tried to get a good shot of her with the cymbals but she was too fast for me.

Bassist Jen Lemasters really held the sound down with some steady, groovy bass lines. Guitarist Ralph Darden (aka DJ Major Taylor) was a fill-in for their regular guitarist but his sharp, biting string work sounded like he'd been with the band since the beginning. Just to prove this is a small world, the guitarist listed online as mthe regular string slasher of the band, Kelsey Henke, not only used to live in Pittsburgh, but worked at the same place I did for a few years. Funny how these things work. 

Dromfest '25 - More Photos and a Few Words

Back over Labor Day weekend, I drove up to Catskill, New York for Dromfest '25, a three-day festival of indie rock music from past and present. A full account of the weekend appears on The Big Takeover's website, which can be found here. The whole event was revelatory for me and I encourage you to check out my dispatch for details. 

Rather than retreading that article, I thought it would be cool to post some of the many photos that I took that weekend, excluding ones that already appear on the BT site. So these are some of the folks I saw. Hopefully the photos taken in the Avalon Lounge aren't too dark for details.

It took two photos to get an accurate shot of Sunburned Hand of the Man's personnel. (The drummer in the far left is Chris Corsano, free jazz extraordinaire.)

At events like Dromfest, it's always a good idea to check out bands that you don't know, in addition to your faves that you came to see. Case in point: the band $500, seen here. They blew me away and I'm glad I didn't miss them.

Guitarist Chris Brokaw (far right) was one of the busiest people at Dromfest. He played solo on opening night, accompanied Beth Kaplan, sat in with Yo La Tengo and, in this photo above, he played with the group Lupo Cita'.

Note to self, pick up any New Radiant Storm King release you see because they, too, were awesome.  

Going a little out of order here. Thalia Zedek has a way of pulling you in with her mid-tempo music, and awesome guitar work. From Sunday afternoon.

Mark Robinson, once and forever of Unrest and Teen Beat Records, played non-stop for about 45 minutes, seguing one tune into another for a 52-song medley (that is, if he stuck to his setlist).

Before Robinson, Fly Ashtray kicked off Sunday afternoon with their wry, brainy pop tunes, in their first set outside of the New York/Brooklyn area in the 21st century.

Sue Harshe, of Scrawl, looked so happy during her band's set, a feeling that pervaded the whole room.

Back to Saturday afternoon, it was so great to see Beth Kaplan, founding member of Salem 66, performing again.

Rebecca Gates, once of the Spinanes, played a beautiful solo set on Sunday.

Note: There should be a photo here of the great Phantom Tollbooth, but I was so enamoured with them that I didn't take any photos, just some so-so videos. 

Will the guys is Cathedral Ceilings be bothered by my continual comparisons to Hüsker Dü? Hopefully not because their speed, clarity and hooks had me by the ear from the minute they started. 

This photo of Al Crisafulli also appeared on The Big Takeover site, but it's worth repeating. Al is the guy who put Dromfest together, and despite being busy the whole weekend, he still had plenty of time to mingle and chat with everyone there and to make sure everyone had a good time. Kudos to him and his crew of helpers. See you next year.

Destroyer Returned to Pittsburgh and Left Me Charmed and a Bit Puzzled

While watching Dan Bejar prowl the stage during Destroyer's Pittsburgh show on October 7, a big part of his appeal finally occurred to me: I like Destroyer because I can't figure out what the hell Bejar is trying to be with the band. Is he a modern day lounge singer? Is he an old-school indie rocker who likes esoteric arrangements where trumpets and synths can comingle with standard rock instruments? Is he some sort of folk singer trying to find the best way to present his lyrical outlook? 

No answers really came that night at Mr. Small's, but it was the act of exploring those questions that made the songs even more appealing. This is a guy who opened his most recent album, the hilariously red-herring Dan's Boogie, with the lyrics, "Your entrance was its own Red Scare/ You quote unquote the French au pair/ where did you invent this learned behaviour?" This only surfaces after 65 seconds of synth strings and flanged piano that sound overmodulated and loud. Bejar, on the other hand is a study in restraint.

The last time Bejar came to town in 2016, Destroyer was just him and an acoustic guitar. Two weeks ago, he had a full band with two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums and trumpet/keyboards. His songs often feel both deceptively simple, based on a few chords, and complex at the same time, due to shifts in dynamics and mood. Surprisingly, Bejar relied on a notebook of lyrics during songs like "Hydroplaining Off the Edge of the World," which has at least five detailed "verses" that would be hard for anyone to commit to memory. 

The band brought the songs to life with the precision of a machine, even if the tempo often seemed to be settled too comfortably in the mid-level for the first part of the set. Bejar's high, reedy voice constrasted with his shaggy long hair and full salt-and-pepper facial hair. If the characters he portrayed in his songs might be on the roguish side, Bejar the performer seems positively charming. 
 

Jennifer Castle, who opened the show singing her own songs with only her acoustic guitar and occasional harmonica backing her, joined Destroyer for a few songs later in the set, one of which might have been "Bologna," a torch song from Dan's Boogie sung by Simone Schmidt.  

A week after the show, I ran into a high school friend who I had seen briefly at the Destroyer show. He said Bejar's music reminded him of the first two Roxy Music albums, a comparison I can see. 

As I was preparing to write this post, I pulled up a preview I had written on Bejar nine years ago to preview that show (which I recall was pretty packed). Roxy was mentioned in that article, in connection to Destroyer's Kaputt album, which hinted at the former band's Avalan. The article began with Bejar aligning himself with the late singer-songwriter Scott Walker too. “I’ll spend my life trying to get around [his] records," he said. "Even when I’m not listening to it, I’ll find myself just thinking about it, being in the middle of a conversation with someone about groceries and I’ll be like, ‘What about that song?’”

Kind of the same way I feel about Destroyer albums. If you'll excuse me, I might have to pull out Poison Season.

PS About a year before the previous Destroyer show, Bejar's mug was plastered across two pages of JazzTimes magazine in an article about rock musicians drawing from jazz in their own work. The article opened with a quote from our hero on jazz influencing Kaputt, cited from a different article. During our interview, I asked if he knew about his inclusion in the article. "Nooo.... was it a mistake?" he asked. At the 2016 show, I gave him my copy of that JazzTimes issue. 

Artifacts, Live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild

 

Photo by Liina Raud

Last Thursday, the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild presented a performance that swung a bit to the left of the nearly 40-year old musical institution's usual programming. Artifacts, the trio of Nicole Mitchell (flute), Tomeka Reid (cello) and Mike Reed (drums), was on tour and needed a spot to play. Mitchell, who ran Pitt's Jazz Studies program from 2019 to 2022, reached out to MCG Jazz executive producer Marty Ashby, who welcomed the trio to the space. Although all three musicians have played in situations where the music moves in an outward direction, their sound combined a sense of adventure with a hard-swinging mood.

Reid avoided the bow in the early part of the set and plucked her instrument like a bass. It set up a vamp in some of the tunes, like "Pleasure Palace" to which Mitchell added a throaty solo. One of the microphones on the flute ran the instrument through a set of effects which often gave it a theremin-style sound, which Reed and Reid abetted during "Giddy Giddy" with stops that alternated on every two and three beats. Reed got some drones going on his drum heads in "Torps," with his cymbals eventually blending into long tones from his bandmates before things broke into a solid 4/4 backdrop for the flute and cello. 

Throughout their set, the rapport between all three players was clearly on display, with an ability to move from jerky stop-start parts to a steady groove in a new, untitled piece. In Mitchell piece "B.K.,"  the composer's flute and electronics were really lifted by the drums and cello, raising the excitement of the set. 

MCG doesn't allow photography during the performances, but my friend Wayne was quick to snap the above photo at the end of the set when Artifacts posed for another photographer. I was too busy hoping to br a fanboy with Reed, expressing my fondness for his Flesh and Bone album, which can be found here. (Read it and find a copy of it, pronto.) Reid's 3+ 3 album from last year was also a great find. And of course, Mitchell's discography continues to grow as we speak. 

Hopefully these three won't be strangers in the Steel City. When Mitchell gave the city a shout as things were setting up, the response indicated we were glad to see her again.

A Return, and a Report of Roger Clark Miller's Return to Town

Two months is a long time, even for me, to let things go dormant. Things got precariously close to abandonment of the blog. But only because there were writing assignments for other places going on, in addition to family stuff (cleaning out a house, getting a kid off to college, albeit one in the same city as me). Plus travels to an amazing music festival.

So maybe it's time to catch up on things. In reverse order...

Roger Clark Miller, once and forever the guitarist of Mission of Burma, was in town last Saturday (October 18) at Government Center. In a matter of speaking, this is probably the re-scheduled visit for him, since he was slated to play here in early 2020, right as the world was starting to shut down. He and I did a phone interview at that time, but, going back through my folders, I don't know if I even got as far as transcribing it. 

One thing I do remember from that conversation is how he mentioned in passing that Mission of Burma was broken up at that point. No one had really come out from the band and said it yet. In fact, I think that an online article appeared a few months later talking about it, and how the band was so much the sum of its parts that no one was going to do an interview just about that topic without the other two (or three) members. Suffice to say, in talking to Roger, it seemed like nothing bad had happened. The group simply felt they had done what they set out to do and everyone was ready to move on.

Last week, Miller, as the photos show, set up onstage with a battery of equipment: a guitar, two lap steel guitars (though his albums credit him with three, this was all I could see), a pedalboard and a few other pedals to boot. This looping-and-playing-along-with-it thing was something that he has been doing since the late 1980s with his Maximum Electric Piano. Twice I saw him generating percussion parts by putting a brick or comb on the piano strings and looping that, before playing a "bass" line that also got looped, topped off by a melody and vocals. 

Last week, it was all instrumental, with music inspired by his Dream Interpretation projects. The music ranged from raucous and noisy to steady and controlled, almost reaching a bit of either surf tone or noirish twang in a piece like "Russian Spy Cannisters" which appears on his latest album Curiousity for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble. (The word "ensemble" refers to the way he can create the swell of a full band with the equipment at hand.)

Throughout the set, Miller kept looking back at the music stand to his left, which made it seem like each piece had a score which he was following. To add to that, the music itself flowed as pieces, not merely looped riffs that he jammed on until he switched to another. When he switched from his six-string to run a slide up one of the lap steels, it all connected to the dynamic and structure. These were extensive ideas that took time to unfold. The most notable example of this came in the final performance of the night, "Curiosity On Mars," a five-part piece inspired by the shapes of rocks and mineral caught in photographs by the Mars Rover. It was wild listening to him play and envisioning the way the photos shaped the sound. 

Back at the end of August, I drove up to Catskill, New York for Dromfest '25. Miller kicked off the event and he was the one act I missed, due to my late arrival. (Goddam that New York State Thruway.) I bought the Curiousity CD that night and was glad that he came to Pittsburgh. He's still creating new, bold music with the same level of commitment he had four decades ago.

The evening began with two local acts adding to the edgy, experimental mood of the night. Satryr/Elfheim was a solid guitar player whose left-hand vibrato made his songs stand out. His technical problems almost derailed the focus of the set at first, but when he got into it, he sounded solid. Full disclosure, Business Jazz features one of my bandmates, guitarist Erik Cirelli, with Chris Cannon, a longtime fixture of the local scene, dating back to his time in bands like the Johnsons (Big Band) and Raw Blow. Their set was a swirling mass of sampled lectures, bossa nova samples and a little bit of skronk. 

CD Review: Joe Morris/Elliot Sharp, Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton

 
Two new releases from ESP-Disk' present two different kinds of collaborations. One is a first-time meeting of minds, the second a follow-up on a combination that shows the players from vastly different backgrounds coming together to blend cohesively.

Joe Morris/Elliot Sharp

Realism

(ESP-Disk') joemorriselliottsharp.bandcamp.com/album/realism

Putting two free-thinking guitarists together in a studio can present a risk. Things could get cluttered quickly, with scads of ideas shooting out at once. But Joe Morris and Elliot Sharp both play with intense focus to the extent that, even if things seem to go off the rails, they always have control and vision to know where things will proceed in tandem. 

The incredible thing about Realism is the way both players seem to maintain a deep concentration on the sounds they produce while using their playing to complement and respond. Each guitarist is panned hard to their own speaker (Morris on the left, Sharp on the right). Sharp creates sustained electric washes that flow around Morris's plucking in "Shapes Maintained," never getting in his way. When Morris utilizes effects, his attack seems to move backwards, with Sharp becoming the player who works without sustain. Both of them plink away in "Neither Odd Nor Even" each in a different register with a different approach. Sharp's harmonics add a rich texture and later in the piece this sound takes on the guise of an organ.

The metallic clatter at the start of "Light Asking" evokes the idea of Morris and Sharp literally building something. Morris ends up exploring the harmonic universe with a fast array of technique that may or may not be picking or hammering but sounds beautiful, regardless. This track ends with Sharp sounding like a blend of claves and dead wax record static. Even a track title "Soft Version" manages to combine a plucked melody that is soft while the dialogue still manages to keep it rough around the edges.  

There are moments on Realism where it's easy to imagine Morris and Sharp exchanging glances of excitment about what they are creating. Yet it's just as easy to imagine each player looking down at the strings, lost in thought. Figuring out when those moment are provides the rewards of the listening experience.

Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton

(ESP-Disk') wolfeyesxanthonybraxton.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-pioneer-works-26-october-2023

It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed since multi-reedist/composer Anthony Braxton first collaborated with noise musicians Wolf Eyes at Victoriaville, the results of which appeared on the album Black Vomit. That pairing said a lot about the wide-ranging sonic perspective of Braxton, who had seen the group a year prior in Sweden and liked them so much he bought every release on their merch table. The onstage meeting of the minds felt brutal and might not have gone too far beyond the scope of mutual appreciation. But hearing Braxton yell excitedly onstage brought back memories of his early days in Circle performances and proved he was having a good time.

Wolf Eyes x Anthony Braxton feels less like an odd pairing (though "pairing" isn't a truly appropriate description since Wolf Eyes is a duo of Johnny Olson and Nate Young) and more like a meeting of the minds where the various contributions come together in a cohesive manner. It consists of two tracks, "Side A" and "Side 1," which last 20 and 16 minutes respectively.

Things begin with electronic drones fading up and down as Braxton blows a quick sopranino fanfare before switching to alto. Electro static drops in occasionally as the saxophone lines get more aggressive. Braxton never sticks with one horn for very long but the quick changes complement the way the soundscape frequently morphs behind him. The  performers are all have a good sense of how to use open space to their advantage before submitting to a haphazard pulse and extra layers of electric waves.

The opening moments of "Side 1" (the second track) include a whoop, presumably from an audience member at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, New Jersey where the performance occurred in 2023. It's tempting to conclude that the listener might be reacting to the force of the sub-bass tones coming from the stage. They sound as if they could rattle one's sternum in real life. But it's likely the person whooping was excited to hear Braxton approach the mighyt bass sax again, which delivers nearly four minutes of aggressive honks (longer than usual) before he moves to the sopranino. 

Those low electronic bass notes never really go away but they do create a rather enthralling blend of sounds that often have a choral feel behind Braxton. Olson or Young's array of sounds include something that could very well be Braxton sampled and manipulated to complement the maestro. Or it could be Olson's pipes (the credits don't specify what kind of pipes) or even Young's harmonica doing the work. 

Whatever adds to this swell of sound is not the main thing. The final result, a real confluence of sound that feels like a difference type of Ghost Trance music, brings these two no longer disparate forces together in a wild manner that fits with the ESP tradition. 

How I Saw Ozzy, Almost Got Mugged and Wound Up in Homewood With My Dad

For years, I lied about the first "real" rock concert that I attended. I told everyone it was the Pretenders in the fall of 1981 at the Stanley Theater, when they were touring in support of Pretenders II. I did see that show, but it wasn't the first. My first rock concert occurred in the same venue just a few months earlier - Ozzy Osbourne, on his Blizzard of Oz tour, with Randy Rhoads on guitar.

In the summer of 1981, I had just finished 8th grade, getting ready to move on to high school at Taylor Allderdice. Though I had darkened the door of Jim's Records in Bloomfield, it would be another six months before I dove headfirst into punk rock and all its byproducts. At that point, I was still heavily into '60s music, having just discovered Moby Grape, Spirit and Iron Butterfly around that time. For radio, I was devoted to WDVE-FM 102.5, which at that time was all about the AOR (Album Oriented Rock) format. Fine with me. I was into all that stuff and I showed my devotion with a DVE jersey. 

When it was suggested on-air that people going to the Three Rivers Regatta should wear their DVE shirts, you can bet I was willing to do it. Strolling through Point State Park that weekend, I was approached by DJ Marsy McFerrin. "Would you like two tickets to see Ozzy Osbourne," she asked, not really caring that I looked like a kid. Sure, why not, I thought. I liked Sabbath when I was younger, since the first five albums were in the house. Sounds like a cool idea.

For some reason, my parents didn't object. I invited my best buddy Gene, who was still going by his first name of Garlyn, to come along with me. He probably knew Sabbath but might not have heard "Crazy Train," the only solo Oz song I knew, to be honest. But he was up for it. We had been comedy partners in crime all through 8th grade, cracking each other up with little provocation, often at the worst times. 

When we got to the Stanley, a crowd was swarming around front doors and sidewalk. Maybe it was sold out, I'm not sure. But some dude asked us for tickets and Gene, thinking he worked there, wanted me to give them to him. Luckily I didn't. Though for some time after that, I thought we could have made a fast couple of bucks and spend the rest of the evening getting hopped up on Little Debbie's and root beer. 

The opening act was Def Leppard, who had only released On Through the Night at that point. They were cool but to this this 13-year old, they were soooooooo loud. I screamed at Gene and couldn't hear myself. Oh my God, am I going to go deaf? My dad will kill me! After a few minutes, my ears had adjusted and the overwhelming swell of noise felt cool. 

Now, two 13-year olds probably think they can blend in easily in a place like this and I just wanted to look cool and fit in. So when the crowd started chanting "Ozz-ZEE! Ozz-ZEE!" between sets, I wanted to kill Gene when that goofball started chanting, "Harri-ETT! Harri-ETT!" Apparently, he associated the name more with Ricky Nelson's dad than heavy metal. Rather progressive for a young African-American kid, in retrospect. But I had to make him stop. Kudos to him for not caring. Shame on me for worrying too much. 

Then Ozzy came on, with a roar of guitar that felt even louder than Def Leppard. The man, the myth, the legend. "Are yooooo high?! I said, are yooooooooooo high?! Well, SO AM I!" That actually came a few songs into the set, which I believe also included "Mr. Crowley." My memories are kind of fuzzy about details. What I recall is that after about five, maybe six songs, Gene looked at me and said, "I'm going to go. I'm bored." 

But, but, but.... I mean, I wasn't totally wrapped up in the show but I didn't want to leave. Yet, I couldn't stand the idea of being there alone. Or of Gene getting home by himself. So we left. Had I know that Randy Rhoads would die in a plane crash less than a year later, maybe I'd've hung out. But no one can predict that. 

I called my dad, who said he pick us up. We agreed to meet down the street and around the corner from the Stanley in the doorway of the building where I had once taken piano lessons. It was an easy meeting place but the thing is, the block of Liberty Avenue between locations was full-on red light district in 1981, despite the fact that Lomakin's Music Store was sandwiched in between a couple peep show theaters. The site of two dorky kids, one white and one black, standing on a street corner, must have looked suspicious to the regular denizens of the area. Maybe we looked like runaways, in good clothes. 

One guy took advantage of the situation. He came up and asked us for money, either a quarter or a dollar. We demurred. "I asked nicely," he said. We declined again. "I said," he did a high kick in front of us, "I asked nicely." Looking at the ground, neither of us were giving in. "I SAID," another high kick, "I ASKED NICELY." With that, one of us gave him some change and he was on his way. And we sunk into the corner of the doorway. 

My dad thought nothing of giving Gene a ride to Homewood, where he lived. Me, the naive kid, wondered if that was a good idea for a white guy and his son to be driving into a predominantly black neighborhood. "Don't worry, I'll tell the guys to leave you alone," Gene said, cracking up as he assured me I really had nothing to worry about. 

When we got to his house, I walked Gene up to the porch and got to meet his mom, who I had only talked to quickly on the phone before she handed it over to her son for one of our marathon calls. (It's not just teenage girls who tied up the line back then.) She was sweet and thanked me for getting him home. I'm glad I did get to meet her that night because later that fall, the family moved to Baltimore. Though Gene and I keep in touch now, I've only seem him once since then, and his mom passed away not too long after my mom did. 

This entry was not really about Ozzy Osbourne, but it was about how his visit to Pittsburgh made a bunch of events transpire. I didn't mention being there for years because seeing Ozzy just seemed a little... uncool for awhile. Until you're talking to a Randy Rhoads fan, or an Ozzy fan. Then it has its charm.  I've listened to Master of Reality and some of Volume 4 since getting the news that Ozzy has left us. While I could expound about those records, many already have. But few have had the concert journey that I had with him. 

Thanks, Ozzy. 

 

Salute to My Mother

I don't know if I've ever gone this long without doing a blog post. This is the kind of gap that makes you think, "Looks like that blog isn't coming back." But the past couple months had a lot of writing going on in other places, which left little brain space for here. Though I often had germs of ideas for quick album write-ups, I have been psyching myself out when I realized the albums were six months old, and came out in 2024. 

For anyone who isn't familiar with my latest journalistic escapades, here is the lowdown and some links:

For the first time in seven years, my byline appeared in Pittsburgh City Paper in May. It only ran on their website, but I wrote a preview feature on James Brandon Lewis' show in the Jazz Poetry Month event at City of Asylum. 

Then, a dream came true and I got to interview Beth Kaplan and Judy Grunwald from Salem 66 about the band's history and the compilation of their music that just came out. It marked my writing debut for The Big Takeover. 

Before I even pitched The Big Takeover on that story, I talked to them about a story on Fly Ashtray, a long-standing New York which was once on Shimmy-Disc and continues to make music over 40 years after they got together. It was such a detailed piece, it ran in two parts. 

Part One is here. 

Part Two is here. 

Somewhere in there, I managed to find time to interview Marc Ribot for JazzTimes. 

Then my son graduated high school. 

Then, my mom died. It's hard typing that. Not because I'm a complete mess now that she's gone. It's just a big thing to throw at people. And, I think, I'm doing okay. My mom had dementia for several years and while the changes in her were hard to see, she kept plowing on, like the force of nature that she was. The longer she stayed around, the more I tried to adapt to her world. She remembered me and my four siblings and our spouses, but the day-to-day stuff slipped away. She went peacefully, drifting off in the house I grew up in, and where she wanted to be.  

One thing about my mom that came up during the viewing, talking to longtime friends and relatives, is how she could be a catalyst for things to happen. I always viewed her more as someone who was a little underconfident, and saw a big gap between her and other people. But that wasn't always the case. For one thing, she talked two members of the Four Freshman into coming to a party at her house, after seeing them perform. They didn't stay too long, and years later, Mom said she wondered if the guys thought they were going to get some action and, when that didn't happen, they split. But that doesn't matter - she got welcomed them to her house - the house where she lived with her parents, by the way.

In going through papers at the house last week, we came across an envelope with two letters from composer/bandleader Neal Hefti. If his name doesn't ring a bell, just think of the themes to Batman and The Odd Couple. That's his work. 

Mom told me the story when I was a kid about how she wanted my dad's group to play the Hefti song "Falling In Love All Over Again," for what I think was a fashion show at our church. They couldn't find charts for the tune so somehow, she got Hefti's number and called him. "May I please speak to Neal Hefti," she asked. "SPEAKING," the voice on the other end replied. Maybe she called a hotel room when he was in Pittsburgh for a gig. Or maybe my uncle (her brother) got her the number. Regardless, she called ("the bold thing," to borrow a phrase of hers) and he sent her the music - two different versions of it, as you'll see below. 

Unfortunately, the sheet music that Hefti enclosed is long gone, which is too bad because the song is a beautiful ballad. Phil Woods recorded it on his album Woodlore (Prestige), which I got for my birthday from the folks when I was high school. To this day, that's the only version of the tune I've heard as well. 

But the story doesn't end there. Five years later, she received another letter from him. (By then, I guess they were old pals since he addresses her as "Martha," rather than "Mrs. Shanley.") I'm pretty sure my mom's letter was related to the purchase of the Count Basie album Basie Plays Hefti, which she and/or my dad picked up around that time. 

I love the sincerity in Hefti's tone: he's grateful that my dad was still playing his tune, which he'd like to hear someday, and hopefully he'd also meet my mom someday. Not for any reason other than the fact that he appreciated her enthusiasm for the music. She was like that. It was all about sharing. And her energy was contagious.

Saluting David Thomas By Thinking About How Pere Ubu Shook My World

During my high school days of the early '80s, I attempted to get caught up on as much as "important" music as I could: Trout Mask Replica, every Velvet Underground release, Patti Smith, as well as any new Birthday Party or Gun Club album. Pere Ubu's name was one that was always discussed in reverent tones. WDVE had even run an ad for a show they were doing at the downtown club Heaven, somewhere around 1981 (ironic, considering the band was at that point at their weirdest and the station wouldn't touch them with a ten-foot pole). It helped me figure out how to pronounce their name and think they must be on the level if WDVE would give them the time of day. A friend of my brother's once gave me a ride after a show and Ubu was playing on his tape deck. I remember thinking it rocked like a cool punk band should, but it had some noise going on, which made it cooler.

Sometime later, I picked up a copy of Pere Ubu's first album,  The Modern Dance. "Sentimental Journey" had come into my world at some point, courtesy of CMU's radio station WRCT. That one really blew my head open. The sound of breaking glass, mumbling, a bleating horn, all of it leading up to a crashing crescendo from the band. Then it did it again. Twice. It could have been free jazz or it could have been weird punk rockers. Regardless, I knew I was in for something wild.

But I wasn't too sure about it once it put it on the turntable. I didn't dislike it but nothing really grabbed me. David Thomas' staccato delivery of "Out in the real world/ in real time," felt too clever. The dual off-key horns in "Laughing" didn't justify the payoff for the singing. If there was rock and roll guitar at the start of "Non-Alignment Pact," I wasn't feeling it. 

So I did what every thoughtful music listener should do. I played it again. And another time. And once more. I probably reread the entry in the Trouser Press Record Guide to gain a little more insight too. There was also a one-star dismissal of the album's follow-up Dub Housing in the first edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide that said something long-winded to the effect of "art rock that's no less pretentious due to its connection to Johnny Rotten." Dave Marsh wrote it, if memory serves and my distrust of mainstream rock criticism was beginning.

Eventually the things that made The Modern Dance unique - things which I was hearing in this way for the first time, without a noticeable reference for them - started coming out. I came to like "Real World." "Street Waves" had a drive to it that got lifted off the ground when Tom Herman took a guitar solo. A year or two later, someone described Herman's high-pitched slide solo in the title track, as a sound that makes you wonder if your stylus is dying or if it's hitting a part of the record that's simply worn down. In other words, it's an unworldly sound that becomes musical in Herman's hands. 

Additionally, "Chinese Radiation" had a strange drama to it, when the piano came in, after a weird mélange of crowd cheers joined the band who seemed to finally be kicking into a song (they weren't). Thomas screamed like someone who was being carried off. Or the whole thing seemed like a flashback sequence in a movie that was fading back to a lone Thomas, singing over those singer-songwriter piano chords. (The same sort of weird poignancy shows up on "Goodbye" on their third album, New Picnic Time.)

Pere Ubu is a band that challenges listeners because they challenged themselves. They aren't a band that you can get in one spin, which brings up a greater point: GOOD MUSIC CAN'T ALWAYS BE GRASPED BEFORE YOU GET THROUGH THE SECOND VERSE (if it consists of things like verses and choruses). As I've played records people over time, they've reacted by saying, "Oh they're trying to sound like _______," or "they just want to be _______," before the song is over. Or they talk through the rest of the song, not really giving it a chance. When asked what they through, they shrug. 

That is not to say the music MUST be heard the first time in complete silence, with undivided attention. I'm just saying that it needs to explored, sometimes multiple times. Pere Ubu did that for me. As did Brian Eno, when I first heard Another Green World, a story I feel I've told umpteen times, but it bears repeating (and my family might be the only ones who recall hearing it ad nauseum). In a weird twist, I didn't buy Dub Housing until a few years ago. I know people that think it's a better album than The Modern Dance. I do love "Blow Daddy-O," with its free drumming and keyboard drone, but the rest of it hasn't totally sold me yet. It must be time for another spin.

A few days before I heard that Ubu vocalist David Thomas had passed away, I was driving in the car and put on Ubu's early single "Final Solution. I firmly believe it's one of the greatest songs ever. I realize the title originated during a particularly dark period of history but the song itself was inspired by Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" and is built on a different kind of young angst, the likes of which were probably pretty prevalent during that time in Cleveland, Ohio. 

As the song built to a climax, fueled once again by Tom Herman's rabid guitar, I got lost in the power of it. It lifted me up and made me want to scream along with Thomas. 

As soon as it was over, I had a thought that has lingered in my head since then: Sometimes I forget that it's just a song. 

So I played it again.

Thank you, David. I hope you've been reunited with your old bandmate Peter Laughner. 

The Public Image of Record Store Day

Record Store Day edition of Public Image Ltd's "First Issue" on my kitchen table

I've opined about Record Store Day many times, over many years. At this point in time, my approach to the day and the releases goes something like this: Let everyone have their fun. If someone gets excited over an Emerson, Lake and Palmer picture disc, fine. If there is yet another live set by Bill Evans coming out and it interests people, good. If someone shopping for RSD releases wanders over to the non-RSD crates and buys something on impulse because it looks intriguing, that means RSD is doing its job. 

This past Saturday, I finished off an article for JazzTimes on Ingrid Laubrock (which you can read here if you're interested - and you should be) and I had a few hours before I had to go to work. So going out and trying to check out RSD releases seemed like a good way to reward myself after completing an assignment. Plus, there was one album that I would snag if I saw it.

After a trip to Government Center, where I picked up the new Destroyer album Dan's Boogie (because I have to have every new Destroyer album) and the anniversary reissue of Belly's King album, I cruised past the Attic, where the line stretched down the street, and then headed to Rosie's Records in Lawrenceville (originally called Long Play Cafe before they moved down Butler Street). 

In the shop, I held up Public Image Ltd's First Issue, with the first ever release of the US mix that never came out, and Brian the owner got very excited. He said that was the only thing he ordered that he himself thought was really cool. So both of us were happy.

The story goes that PiL was told that they didn't have enough material to fill their debut album. To remedy the situation, John Lydon and Jah Wobble went into the studio and cranked out "Fodderstompf," nearly eight minutes of a repetitive bass line and drum machine, over which the two repeated variations on the line "We only wanted to be loved" in falsetto, not unlike the cast of Monty Python when they dressed as women. At one point, Wobble rapidly spews, "We only wanted to finish the album with a minimum of effort, which we are now doing successfully." Towards the end, he also starts shooting off a fire extinguisher. 

After all that, "Fodderstompf" does not appear on the new edition of First Issue. Neither does the spoken piece "Religion I" or the version that adds a heavy groove to it, "Religion II." In place of the former track, we get "Swan Lake," which was released as a single under the name "Death Disco" and also appeared on Metal Box, the band's second album. In lieu of "Religion," "Annalisa," the song that ends Side One,  now clocks in at ten minutes, making it longer than the album's opening salvo-cum-endurance-test "Theme." However, the extra four minutes are not an extended jam but a track of noodling piano and moaning vocals. It's a little funny.

The big difference, though, is the sound of the album. First Issue was originally mixed with a thunderous bass sound, like the dub reggae that the PiL members loved. It had a round sound where the attack of Jah Wobble's bass was not as prominent as the way it resonated after the note was struck. A year ago, I found a used copy of the original album and when I told my brother - who bought it when it came out in 1978 - that "Theme" skipped a few times, he replied, "They all did." Perhaps the pummel of Wobble and drummer Jim Walker were too much for US turntables. (I've been meaning to increase the weight on my tone arm to see if it would help, but really I don't mind if a few skips skim a little time off the nine-minute track.) 

The new issue, which claims on the hype sticker to be the mix that was slated for release in the US during the fall of 1979, has a mix more like a rock album. The bass is still loud in "Theme," but the sub-woofer feel isn't quite there. Walker's snare has more gated echo on it before Lydon starts moaning, so the crack of the beat sounds like an explosion. Instead of sounding like he's moaning from across the room, little John is front and center now. Levene's steady caterwauling guitar now plays second fiddle to him, which is too bad since his playing is more interested than the overwrought lyrics.

It's funny how Lydon and Levene, when they appeared on Tom Snyder's Tomorrow, talked about how boring rock and roll had become, when their opening salvo had some close contact with a slow blues rock. Of course, the guitarist's final electric shriek wasn't something one would hear on a Led Zeppelin album at that time.

"Annalisa" puts more focus on Walker's drums, in particular the high-hat and snare, rather than the thump of his whole kit. The same goes for the song "Public Image," which also tames the guitar a little bit. It also ends with a different echo on Lydon's "goodbye." Conversely, the guitar tames down the vocals on "Low Life" and "Attack." The latter originally sounded like it was coming out of a transistor radio and it now sports a better vocal mix. The two songs now segue in a delay loop that could have happened in '78 but sounds a little modern. 

"Swan Lake," the one non-original track, gives Wobble a slightly more more clarity this time. Instead of fading in a loop of the last line ("Words cannot express"), it meanders on for a few extra minutes, perhaps proving that the original band knew when to edit, "Fodderstompf" not withstanding.

One further observation: The inner sleeve, like the cover featured headshots of Levene and Walker on each side, in keeping with the magazine-style theme of the cover. The reissue comes in a plain black die-cut sleeve, with an insert that reproduces the Levene photo. The flip of it has new album credits but no picture of the departed drummer. Of course, there is no instrumentation listed anywhere either. 

In the end, it was worth it. The whole trip, the camaraderie of record buying folks, the excitement felt by the seller as well as the buyer. Not to mention the fact that I actually found what I was looking for. 

Magnetic Fields Brings The Book of Love Back to the Stage

This may be a given to all people that are in the know, but it's worth putting on record: Stephin Merritt, in addition to being a songwriter with wit and rhyming skills akin to no less than Cole Porter, is also an amazing crooner. When his deep voice croaks out tunes like "I Shatter," accentuated by some distortion, his pipes might seem novel at first. But when he unfurls one of his beautiful ballads like "The Book of Love," he knows exactly where your heartstring lie and he gives them a gentle tug. Even if he's wearing a faded t-shirt with the band Yes' logo on it, you still might be tempted to slip him your phone number.

The feeling became clear just a few songs into the first of Magnetic Fields' two-night stay at the Carnegie Lecture Hall, the space connected to the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. Last Saturday and Sunday, Merritt and his crew played all 69 of the tunes on their revered 69 Love Songs album, which turned 25 years old last fall.  The magnum opus, which spreads across three CDs (and has appeared on six 10" vinyl records) changes sonically from track to track so playing the whole thing is a bit of a herculean task. But the five-piece lineup of the band arranged the songs in a manner that retained the initial feel of each tune, adding different elements where they were needed. And the played the whole thing in order.

The second picture here shows the stage set-up, taken before Saturday's set. Merritt can be a little particular about things onstage. (Years ago, a friend saw him throw a bottle of water at a chatty couple during a New York show, leaving the room silent for the rest of the set.) So I wasn't sure if snapping a photo mid-set would be tolerated, and if nothing else, a layout of their instrumentation seemed warranted. When the band came out, they consisted of Shirley Simms (ukelele, vocals), Chris Ewen (keyboards), Sam Davol (cello), Anthony Kaczynski (guitar, vocals) and Merritt (who played some sort of sampler/keyboard, in addition to singing).

Surprise re-arrangements came immediately. Opener "Absolutely Cuckoo," normally fast and in a slightly jumpier time signature, felt relaxed in a steady 4/4. When Ewen delivered a banjo sample during the melancholic "All My Little Words," the fear started that the night be more like Magnetic Fields karaoke, but my skepticism was wiped away within a few songs. Merritt added some counterpoint vocals to Simms' lead in "Come Back From San Francisco." "Punk Love," one of the more jokey interludes on the album where the title is repeated as the tempo accelerates, sounded more anthemic in real life. To summarize the less-than-happy feeling about our nation's capital, the usually bouncy "Washington, D.C." was delivered at a slower tempo, with finger snaps that captured the mood.

Merritt, as a front man, has the amazing skill of being deadpan and hilarious at the same time. He dryly noted that the album has several types of songs ("Love is Like..." songs, animal songs, and even dead animal songs). Like Thelonious Monk, he can slay with just a few words. He cut loose during the goofy "Love Is Like Jazz," copping a French beatnik feel and playing with one of those toys that moos like a cow and a spring echo tube. Davol took things further, walking offstage and coming back with toy dinosaurs for each band member to use. (The Natural History Museum is connected to the Lecture Hall, for those out-of-town readers.) Speaking of Monk, I could be wrong but it seemed like Kaczynski quoted the pianist's great "Crepiscule With Nellie" before things were through. Bonus points in my book.

The guitarist also wrapped up Night #1 with a dramatic performance of "Promises of Eternity." Merritt sings it on the album but he deserved a rest after the evening's big workout. It didn't seem like a coincidence that the song playing over the p.a. as we walked out was the Monkees' "Tommorow's Gonna Be Another Day." We still had 34 more songs to hear.

Night #2 put another idea in my head. While there are numerous tracks on 69 Love Songs that play in my head, randomly triggered by things having nothing to do with the band, there are still a wealth of them that I just know in passing. And there are plenty of gems among them. "The Death of Ferdinand de Saissure," with Merritt, Simms and Kaczynski harmonizing together, was one.

69 Love Songs doesn't exactly go out with a band on "Zebra," though it does have a laugh. Merritt prefaced the song with the warning, "After this song, there will be a 25-year intermission," riffing on his announcement of the show's real intermission earlier. But when the final song was done, there was a wave from the band, once again Ewen took a photo from the stage, and they were off.

Yes, it was all we could ask for. They had played 69 songs, with nary a flub throughout both nights. But after my big musical weekend (see the previous post), it was also a bit of a letdown, knowing that reality would be back the following morning.

But that's just me.  

Ida Still Knows About Me, Tsunami Still Mows You Down

Last Friday, March 28, I traveled to Philadelphia, via King of Prussia (where my brother lives) to see Ida and Tsunami, who were in the midst of their Coin Toss tour. Both bands were active in the late '90s/ early '00s. Ida was probably one of my favorite bands around that time, combining indie rock sensibilities with some of the most exquisite harmonies ever heard in that vein of music or any other for that matter. I wasn't the type to go on road trips to see bands back then, but I once journeyed on a Monday night to Cleveland to see them, in a car with my wife and friend Leslie, with whom I was starting the band Up the Sandbox. (We didn't really sound like Ida at all but we probably tried to create a mood similar to their work. But maybe that's idealized revisionism.)

I always wanted to get into Tsunami because they had their own label (Simple Machines) who put out a lot of cool music, which showed greater support for the independent scene in general. Plus they were fronted by two women, and having spent nine years in a band with two women who did a lot of writing and singing, it was clear that they were cool.  But me with my limited record buying funds just never got around to them. They came to Pittsburgh once (at least) and played the upstairs room of the Oakland Beehive, but somehow I missed that show. (A current co-worker of mine recently unearthed some photos of that night.) I was probably working. 

So Friday was a night to catch up and to reminisce. 

The name of the tour comes from the fact that the order of performers is not determined until the show starts. (I had forgotten this timing detail and felt shamed when I asked the merch guy the order, thinking that it was determined during soundcheck. Oops.) Both bands came out onstage as "Also Sprach Zarathustra" played over the p.a. Everyone looked deadly serious, which is funny since they're all pretty charming. Franklin Bruno (did I mention the great songwriter of the Inland Empire was sitting in with Tsunami?) gave someone in Ida the "you're going down" look which was especially hilarious. The coin - which seemed to be designed for this tour - was flipped and Ida went on first. As they took their places, Bruno offered to take three questions. One dealt with the nickname on everyone's jacket, his being "Pudding." He offered that it might not be a term of endearment from his wife, but it would fit. Alas, I forgot my scoop pad, so I didn't scribble down any info about the other two questions, or the music that followed.

Suffice to say, Ida was everything I had hoped. The core lineup of Dan Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell (guitars, pictured above), bassist Karla Schickele (bass, below) and Michael "Miggy" Littleton (drums) were augmented by violinist Jean Cook, who has played with them before. She also offered between-song banter while everyone returned. As I had suspected, the (relatively) younger woman playing keyboards and guitar with them was Dan and Liz's daughter Storey. 

After all this time, and numerous albums, the big question was what would make it into the setlist. All stuff from their Simple Machines releases? How much from Will You Find Me, their magnum opus? How much later material, when the group was augmented by several more players. (I wore my Malarkies t-shirt that night, in homage to that duo, who appeared on some later Ida albums and with Schickele's band k. My Ida t-shirt is one of the few band shirts that I wore out, it seems.)

"Maybelle," the slow, unfolding piece from Will You Find Me, came early in the set, with Mitchell and Schickele harmonizing together beautifully. Everyone in the room seemed to hang on every note, especially when Littleton joined them on the chorus. "Requator," one of the songs where the band really rocks out and Mitchell really breathes fire, was an exciting surprise in the set.  I was also really happy to hear two of Schickele's songs, "Poor Dumb Bird" and "This Water."

When the group played New York, Mitchell said Thalia Zedek gave them a hard time for not letting Storey have a solo spot, so she had her moment center stage with "At a Diner" an original that shows that she learned some good lessons from Mom and Pop.

Each night of the tour has had special guests and tonight was no exception. Mary Lou Lord joined Ida for a cover of Bevis Frond's "He'd Be a Diamond" and Susie Ulrey came up for the band's "Downtown."

The bands must have figured that their audience does not want to stay out too too late these days, even on a Friday. There was no official break between bands. In fact, as soon as Ida was done, Tsunami's Jenny Toomey joined Dan onstage to play a song that they two had done in their project Liquorice. Being the great storyteller he is, Dan had to preface the song with a long, convoluted tall tale about the cover of the band's album on 4AD. 

Then the rest of Tsunami took the stage. Along with Jenny Toomey (left, above) and Kristen Thomson (right), the group was rounded out by Bruno, Rob Christiansen (bass) and Luther Gray (drums). The rhythm section was new to the fold, with an impressive background. Christiansen had played in a few bands from that era, including Eggs, and Gray also maintains a double-life as a free jazz drummer with people like Joe Morris. Bruno is a personal favorite for his work with Nothing Painted Blue and his more recent band, the Human Hearts. 

The evening made me want to pick up the recently released Tsunami box set to rediscover their whole catalog. Their set was a wide range of sound - rocking out, getting a little more melodic at times and never letting the high energy slow down. Richard Baluyut of the band Versus was their guest toward the end of the set. For encores, members of Ida joined them for covers of Lungfish's "Put Your Halo On" and a rousing version of Mission of Burma's "Academy Fight Song." (A few nights earlier, Clint Conley, who wrote and sang the Burma song, joined the band onstage in Somerville, MA.)

I overheard conversations in the audience where people talked about seeing the bands years ago, or putting one of them up for the night when they came to town. Upon running into one friend who I knew in Pittsburgh, a bit removed from the indie rock scene, I quickly met a friend of hers who had been in a band with Dan Littleton, pre-Ida. "Oh, you were in the hardcore band," I asked, remembering only a fragment of Littleton's past. But I guessed right. 

There was a time when it was easy for me to roll my eyes at 50-something people who seemed so invested in the music of their youth. As time goes on, you get a little more diplomatic about it. (In fact, I wouldn't think twice if I was asked to join a band play 1960s covers.) Now that I'm at this age, going wild at hearing songs live again, I can understand why the past can stir you up. At this same time, bands like Ida and Tsunami staked out their spot by going against the grain, or at the very least, setting their own standards for what they would do. Having hits wasn't the point, doing your own thing was the point. 

When you combine that with the feeling I still have, post-pandemic, that seeing a band live feels even more life-affirming than it did six years ago, it explains the energy that I felt last week. Keep that fire lit.