Content tagged ''
Have Some Fun: Live at Ungano's (Album of the Day)
The Stooges broke up following a notoriously chaotic show at Detroit's Michigan Palace on this day in 1974 and if you want a taste of how they sounded in concert during their original run, check out HAVE SOME FUN: LIVE AT UNGANO'S. To celebrate the release of FUN HOUSE in the summer of 1970, The Stooges brought the uncompromising ferocity of their second album to Ungano’s, a hole-in-the-wall club on New York's Upper West Side. A reel-to-reel set up in the audience recorded the manic maelstrom as the band performed the entire album (except “L.A. Blues”); the adrenalin-drenched set features singer Iggy Pop, guitarists Ron Asheton and Bill Cheatham, drummer Scott Asheton, bassist Zeke Zettner and saxophonist Steve Mackay. The band closes LIVE AT UNGANO'S with a 10-minute-plus psychedelic freak-out jam featuring two unreleased tracks - “Have Some Fun” and “My Dream Is Dead.”
Blur (Album of the Day)
Released on this day in 1997, Blur's eponymous fifth studio album marked a change from the Britpop that had made the quartet stars. “I can sit at my piano and write brilliant observational pop songs all day long but you've got to move on,” noted frontman Damon Albarn; the result was a record that framed some of his most personal lyrics in the noisy U.S. indie rock then favored by guitarist Graham Coxon. Though label EMI feared the worst, the new direction proved a commercial success, topping the U.K. chart on the strength of such singles as “Beetlebum,” “On Your Own” and the much-licensed “Song 2” (the collection also became the band's biggest hit in America). Helmed by longtime producer Stephen Street, this thrilling reinvention makes BLUR endlessly listenable.
Marquee Moon (Album of the Day)
Television helped turn CBGB into a punk mecca, but when it came time to cut their debut album (released on this day in 1977) the quartet were anything but fast and furious. The late, great Tom Verlaine meticulously mapped out MARQUEE MOON, and when the band entered the studio, they were so well-rehearsed that most songs were recorded in one or two takes. Which isn't to say that the collection is sterile; guitarists Verlaine and Richard Lloyd bring a spirit of exploration that’s akin to the best jazz improvisation, even if the songs themselves - from opener “See No Evil” to “Prove It,” “Friction” and the near 10-minute title track - aren't far from garage rock. Championed as one of the greatest albums of all time by such outlets as Rolling Stone and NME, MARQUEE MOON will shine forever.
Low-Life (Album of the Day)
After POWER, CORRUPTION AND LIES and “Blue Monday” propelled New Order to prominence, LOW LIFE took the quartet a step further in terms of accessibility. From the 1-2 punch of opening tracks “Love Vigilantes” and “The Perfect Kiss,” the 1985 collection neatly straddles the urgent rock of the band's Joy Division roots and the synth-driven dance grooves for which they'd become more closely identified. As catchy as the album is, it's also filled with strange beauty (the instrumental “Elegia”) and, thanks to Bernard Sumner's plaintive vocals and Peter Hook's melodic bass work, plenty of soul. A high-water mark for many fans, LOW-LIFE encapsulates everything that's great about New Order and we'll cue it up now to wish Hook a happy birthday..
Live in Buenos Aires (Album of the Day)
Coldplay brought their A Head Full of Dreams Tour to a triumphant close with a pair of November 2017 appearances at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in Argentina - performances that would become the U.K. quartet's fifth concert album a year later. The 2-CD LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES features exhilarating takes on virtually all the hits you'd want to hear from the group, including “Yellow,” “Clocks,” “Fix You,” “Viva la Vida” and "A Sky Full Of Stars" over a near two-hour running time. The terrific playing and between-song exchanges with the audience (often in Spanish) show the band and nearly 50,000 fans having a great time together. Coldplay performed at the Super Bowl on this day in 2016 and LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES shows the band can bring stadium crowds to their feet the world over.
Bloodshot (Album of the Day)
Years before their 1980s pop breakthrough, The J. Geils Band had paid their dues as Boston's top blue-rockers, and the sextet's 1973 studio album, BLOODSHOT, lives up to the group's reputation. Future Eagles producer Bill Szymczyk is behind the boards, but that group's meticulous mystique is far removed from the raucous energy bursting from these grooves. Along with a couple of well-chosen covers (such as The Showstoppers' “(Ain't Nothin' But a) House Party”), keyboardist Seth Justman and frontman Peter Wolf came up with a batch of originals that could pass for R&B classics themselves: “Don't Try to Hide It,” “Make Up Your Mind” and “Give It To Me” are but a few of the scorchers here. BLOODSHOT was justifiably a Top 10 hit, and we'll give the Atlantic collection another spin in memory of guitarist Geils, who passed away a year ago today.
Blak and Blu (Album of the Day)
Born in Austin, TX on this day in 1984, Gary Clark, Jr. came of age playing at the city's legendary blues club, Antone's. While the performer's 2012 Warner Bros. debut, BLAK AND BLU, is steeped in that music, it's also well versed in rock and soul. Clark's guitar work is outstanding throughout (you've gotta have some chops to take on Hendrix's “Third Stone from the Sun”), but his singing and songwriting are equally strong. “Ain't Messin 'Round” nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song while “Please Come Home” won the award for Best Traditional R&B Performance; the collection as a whole made the Top 10 on Billboard's album chart. BLAK AND BLU announced the arrival of a major talent, and we'll give it another spin to wish Clark a happy birthday.
So So Satisfied (Album of the Day)
While songwriters Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson penned enough hits at Motown to last a lifetime, the creative well was far from dry when the duo signed to Warner Bros. as performers in the mid-1970s. SO SO SATISFIED was the husband-and-wife team's fourth longplayer for the label, and opener “Tried, Tested And Found True” is an apt description of the album's superb songcraft, rich orchestration and lushly romantic atmosphere. “Over and Over,” “Destiny” and the title track are other highlights of the self-produced 1977 set, which set the stage for a trio of Gold albums that followed. A collection that will leave R&B fans SO SO SATISFIED, the album's beautiful love ballads also make it perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Pacific Northwest '73-'74: Believe It If You Need (Best Of) (Album of the Day)
During the Grateful Dead's legendary 30-year run, the band often visited its northern neighbors in Portland, Seattle and occasionally even Vancouver. Nonetheless, official live recordings from those cities have been rare until the new PACIFIC NORTHWEST '73-'74: BELIEVE IT IF YOU NEED IT. Excerpted from a larger “complete recordings” boxed set, the 3-CD compilation features some of the best performances by the post-Pigpen lineup in advance of their releases of WAKE OF THE FLOOD and FROM THE MARS HOTEL. Along with highlights from those albums, PACIFIC NORTHWEST '73-'74 includes some of the most famous moments in Grateful Dead live history, among them the Vancouver '73 “Bird Song,” the Portland '74 “Truckin'” jam, and the 47-minute “Playing In The Band” from Seattle '74 – all mastered from the original tapes.
SONG OF THE DAY - This Must Be The Place (Album of the Day)
Released 35 years ago this month, Talking Heads' SPEAKING IN TONGUES was the group's commercial breakthrough following a trio of acclaimed albums with producer Brian Eno. The collection includes the quartet's first Top Ten hit, “Burning Down The House,” but follow-up single “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” is equally noteworthy. Atypically for the band, “it's a real honest kind of love song,” said lyricist David Byrne. “I don't think I've ever done a real love song before.” The melody is purposefully simple, with group members switching from their usual instruments to play it, and that simplicity may explain its popularity in soundtracks and cover versions. Cited by Pitchfork as one of the 50 best songs of the 1980s, "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" is our song of the day.