New Blog

Head over to www.intoavoid.blogspot.com

Check it out, its a little less broad but good none the less

Triple J Hottest 100

The Triple J Hottest 100 was launched on the 26th celebrating the best music of 2005. Bernard Fanning came in at number one with Wish You Well and Ben Lee took second with Catch My Disease, Gorillaz were third with Feel Good Inc. For the full list click here. Wolfmother broke the record for most songs in the Hottest 100 with six from their debut album, Minds Eye and Joker and the Thief were both in the top ten at #6 and #9 respectively. If you missed the broadcast click here to listen to the stream from the Triple J website.

Ambervale Gig

On Friday 3rd I’m heading out to Ambervale youth center to see the Remainders and a whole lotta of other heavy rock bands. The Remainders are in a studio at the moment recording an album of which 1000 copies will be distributed. Only $5 dollar for a ticket at the door so anyone in Sydney, come check it out.

White Stripes Concert

I went to the White Stripes side concert last Wednesday at the Hordern Pavilion, and was once again blown away at how good they are, it is always amazing to see them pull off the songs that you didn’t think they could pull off live. There were two opening acts, the first being the Situations, a pop rock band from Auckland in New Zealand. They were alright but nothing really exiting, a high chraged mix of angsty suburburban songs, although the lead guitarist did pull of some interesting moves with a slide.

The Greenhornes, a three piece from Cincinnati, Ohio, were next. This band was a much better outfit, playing highly charged blues rock with groovy bass lines and cutting guitar riffs. It was soon apparent why the White Stripes had these guys come on tour with them. The bassist and the drummer along with pop rocker Brendan Benson have also been recording an album with Jack White under the band name of the Raconteurs. It seems I’m going to have to invest some money into the Greenhornes.

Then a little while later, the masters came out and delivered a nonstop grunge-blues 2 hour performance. They started with Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground and played hits such as The Hardest Button To Button, My Doorbell and Hotel Yorba. They also played revved up version’s of Bob Dylan’s Love Sick, Son House’s Death Letter, Dusty Springfield’s I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself and Leadbelly’s De Ballit of De Boll Weevil as a finisher.

Blue Orchid and Seven Nation Army were played last with the chorus riff of Seven Nation Army being played with a technicolor strobe light swathing the audience in a red, white and black flashing light. The only disappointment was that Ball and Biscuit and Fell in Love with a Girl weren’t played, but with an ever changing set list you can’t always get what you want.

The performance was amazing with Jack White being able to control every song and then change to the next without warning. One man said to me on the night that he (Jack White) wasn’t Jimi Hendrix, but he was probably closest thing we were going to get this decade. I had to agree.

Guitar Solos

The guitar solo, something bands can tastefully or not so tastefully put somewhere in a song. They can either boost a song or give the artist another point of expression. But it can also be a guitarist just letting rip, showing off their ability with the guitar. For the guitar solo enthusiasts here are a couple of pretty good examples of guitar soloing
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7634205066934058908&q=fastest+guitar+solo

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2857608807865283000&q=Guitarist

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2930098666552753707&q=Guitar+Solos

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7804288799393203449&q=Guitar+Solos

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8267384235298108577&q=Guitar+Solos

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1938099378022643751&q=Guitar+Solos

Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Albums of the Year

Here it is - Rolling Stone Magazine's top 50 albums of the year. Amazing that the Rolling Stones can still make a high selling record with their latest, A Bigger Bang, reaching #2 in the UK and #3 in the US. One has to wonder is it purely on the band's notoriety alone that the album did so well or just that the still living fans are staying true to one of the greatest rock acts of all time? Or is it that the music generation of today still does appreciate good blues rock music - who knows? I would have thought System of a Down would have done better in the list, considering their albums both achieved #1 in multiple countries, but at least they are on the list.

Kayne West (who is a hero for his outspoken political views) definitely deserves number one with his album, Late Registration. He debuted at #1 with his 10 grammy award nominations making him the most nominated artist of 2005, three of which he won. He has been further nominated for 8 awards for 2006. Not only was his album a success but the multiple albums that he has produced this year have also been successful. The Stripes taking third place is a bit of a surprise because the album varied quite far from the usual White Stripes mayhem but came in at #3 in both the UK and US.

Click Here for the list.

Morphine

Morphine is a band that I have only discovered recently, but, unfortunately, they no longer exist. The bassist and lead singer, Mark Sandman, collapsed on stage July 3rd, 1999, at the Giardini Del Principe in Palestrina (near Rome). He was pronounced dead of a heart attack, at the age of 46. They are an amazingly unique three piece, comprising of a baritone saxophonist, drums and a two string slide bassist who sings. It is like they are the missing link between Jazz, Blues and Rock. Sandman sings with a bluesy, deep, gravelly voice not unlike Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. At times they almost seem like a cross over between Nirvana and the Doors.

I have three of their albums and a 'best of' compilation, which, of the five albums they released while Sandman was alive, is hardly enough. Four albums and compilations have been released since his death. With a combination that, on the surface, would'nt seem to appeal to a rock audience each of the albums succeeds in breathing new life and freshness into the music world. Sandman appropriately coined the term 'low rock' for Morphine's music. They are well worth a listen by anyone who likes jazz or blues-rock or anyone interested in good music. And, apparently, Morphine is also an aphrodisiac for women - the band that is.

This Day in Music

The folks from the website www.thisdayinmusic.com have released a book about; yep you guessed it, musical facts, album/song chart positions, births and deaths of musicians on each day of the year. It is quite large for the rock music buff, with over 10,000 facts about music for the last 50 years, I knew when I saw it I could not resist. Here is a fun fact for today, in 1969, Peter Tork quit the Monkees, buying himself out of his contract for $ 160,000, which left him broke. There are a whole lot of facts like this in the book and it is well worth a purchase.

Get With The Times

Get With The Times is a new podcast by my friend Peter, also the author of the podcast/blog Open Your Eyes. This new blog is a look at the most important artists and their songs of certain decades. It is 5 songs per episode and is going for about 360 i believe, but it is a good mix of songs from their respective decades so check it out.

Album Review: Wolfmother, 2005, Self-titled, Modular/Universal

Stoner rock, psychedelic metal, call it what you will, an Australian band has never attempted it, until now. Bands like Fu Manchu, Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age (which formed from Kyuss’s remains) are purveyors of stoner rock. Heavy droning riffs, crashing drums, pounding bass and vocals from out of this world, are the trademarks of this genre started back in the late sixties by bands like Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. It died in the late seventies to make way for a new brand of heavy rock called metal. It could not compete with punk, glam and all the new sounds emerging and so retreated into the hemispheres until it was rediscovered in the nineties by a new age wave of grunge heads who wanted to delve back into the past to assist create something new, fresh and heavy. But Wolfmother are something else; theyare not as heavy as the nineties bands from the desert of California but playing the bluesy, hard hitting rock that flourished in England in the late sixties and early seventies.

The debut album of Wolfmother is a really courageous move in the Australian music scene. With the biggest deal in Australia since Jet, Wolfmother were going to have to deliver something good. And they did. Wolfmother’s album is an electric mix of psychedelic rock, with heavy fuzz driven blues rock guitar, groovy underlying bass, spacey, soulful and spiraling keyboard, drum rolls that will pound you back to the seventies and keep you trapped there. The lead singer and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, has quite a distinctive voice quite reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant and Jack White.

The album has been well received by the Australian public, coming 3rd in the Aria charts. The singles, Woman and Minds Eye, have both been hits. They won Triple J’s Artist of the year competition and are about to come off a lengthy Australian tour to head overseas to tour in the UK. I hope the Brits are as impressed as I am. I give Wolfmother’ debut album 4 stars.

Grateful Dead to allow free downloads

This story jumped out from The Age:

What a short, strange trip it was. After the Grateful Dead angered some of its biggest fans by asking a non-profit website to halt the free downloading of its concert recordings, the psychedelic jam band has changed its mind.

Internet Archive, a site that catalogues content on websites, reposted recordings of Grateful Dead concerts for download after the surviving members of the band decided to make them available again.

Band spokesman Dennis McNally said the group was swayed by the backlash from fans, who for decades have freely taped and traded the band's live performances.

"The Grateful Dead remains as it always has - in favour of tape trading," McNally said.

He said the band consented to making audience recordings available for download again, although live recordings made directly from concert soundboards, which are the legal property of the Grateful Dead, should only be made available for listening from now on.

The soundboard recordings were "very much part of their legacy, and their rights need to be protected," McNally said.

Representatives for the band earlier this month had directed the Internet Archive to stop making recordings of the group's concerts available for download. But fans quickly initiated an online petition that argued the band shouldn't change the rules midway through the game.

"The Internet Archive has been a resource that is important to all of us," states the petition, which also threatened a boycott of Grateful Dead recordings and merchandise. "Between the music, and interviews in the archive we are able to experience the Grateful Dead fully."

The Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995 following the death of guitarist and lead singer Jerry Garcia. The group once set concert attendance records and generated millions of dollars in revenue from extensive tours.

With concert tickets now removed as a source of revenue, sales of the band's music and other merchandise have become increasingly important in an age where music is distributed digitally instead of on CDs, vinyl and cassette tapes.

And the arrival of Apple's iTunes online music store, and other similar sites, meant free downloads could be seen as competition, said Marc Schiller, chief executive of Electricartists, which helps musicians market themselves online.

The band sells music on iTunes and exclusive shows through its website.

"When the music was given away free to trade, the band was making so much money touring that the music was not as valuable to them," Schiller said. "Apple iTunes has made digital downloads a business."

The Grateful Dead's free-form improvisational style led to vastly different sounding songs, from year to year or even night to night. A song that lasted four minutes during one performance could be stretched to 20 minutes during a different show.

Fans eager to explore the varying versions frequently built large collections of shows spanning the band's 30-year career. The band even encouraged recording of their live shows, establishing a cordoned section for fans to set up taping equipment.

The Vines to Return

Australian band the Vines have completed a new album which is due for release some time next year. They disappeared from the lime light when their singer Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. Apparently the new album is ‘edgier and wilder’ claims producer Wayne Connerly although their albums are fairy unruly as it is. I only really got into the Vines this year because when they first came out I thought they were just repeats of Grinspoon and Jebediah which I find fairly boring (no offense to listeners of these bands). But then I actually started listening to them and I was pretty impressed.

It sounded like they were trying to create that great sixties psychedelic vibe and then mixing it with grunge, plus doing it well. They had great creativity which I find so many Australian bands now days lack. With two good albums behind their belt we should expect something good. Something hopefully apart from all the other boring droning Australian crap.

Jet also has a new album due for March next year.

Aussie band on the rise

Wolfmother

Wolfmother

For those of you who do not know this band you are missing out on:

. the next best thing in Australian music
. a spacey psychedelic mix of keyboard, bass and guitar
. a great band

If you like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin then you will love Wolfmother. Even if you don’t like those bands, Wolfmother has a fresh, original but vintage sound that just can’t be found in modern music. Their original EP, which is no longer available in Australia, contained a psychedelic onslaught of 4 songs, Dimension, Woman, Apple Tree and White Unicorn. They are now following this up with their first debut album which is self titled. It contains suped up versions of the songs on the EP and their new hit Minds Eye, which can be heard on their website or click here if you can't wait for the album coming out on the 31st of October. They are amazing and are defintely my favourite band at the moment and I haven’t even heard the album yet.

Album Review: System of a Down Mezmerize, 2005, American/Columbia

To sum up the album, it could be best described as short and sweet. But this one assumes is the point with the promised release of the ‘second half,’ Hypnotize to be released November 22nd. The albums are supposed to interlock somehow.

The new release of the ten year veterans of art shock rock is quite interesting. It different from earlier albums in that it is less heavy and more melodious, but it still contains the bands aggression against the hypocrisy of America with songs like Sad Statue and B.Y.O.B. which to put plainly is an anti-Iraq war song, while Old School Hollywood and Lost In Hollywood speak of the corruption and decadence of yeah, you guessed it, Hollywood.

I believe the point of the album was basically telling America to take a mirror and look at itself. It has some nice signature System of A Down crunching guitar licks and some more singing from Malakian, the guitarist, as well as the usual growl of Serj Tankian. Looking forward to Hypnotize to complete my System of A Down listening experience. I give Memorize 3.5 stars.

Interesting Gig

Went to a gig on Wednesday night, it was okay not exactly my cup of tea but most of it good music. The line up in order was Malfunction, the Remainders, the Small Hours and Dappled Cities Fly.

Malfunction was what can be described as a fairly bland form of metal from mostly Metallica covers and originals along those lines to a crucifixion of System Of A Down’s Chop Suey. They pulled off the start but it went down hill from there. The guitarist/singer had some talent but it seemed to go waste, it is hard to be young and an opening band.

Then the Remainders played with their usual enthusiasm but lacked their signature tightness but they still are a really great live band who are enjoyable just to watch, especially when the lead singer took off his shirt and stalked the stage like a deranged hell cat. Songs include Queens of the Stoneage, Every Body Knows Your Insane, The Vines, Get Outta The Way and their original, crowd pleasing Torture. Lots of energy, maybe to much.

The Small Hours played next, a three piece that have only just formed. The bassist is in fact ex-Remainders Harrison Lillis. They were very much in the vain of the Stranglers. Tight but not really hyped, maybe stage fright.

The finale of the night were the local Sydney band Dappled Cities Fly who have been around for little while but haven’t yet got that much publicity. They part of the Eighties revival/new wave that seems to be popular at the moment, e.g. the Killers and all that lot. They very spritely and energetic for them music that they play. Which sounds like a bit of a mix between the Cure and the Whitlams and they are not all that bad, I can see them getting a bit of a following if they get some publicity such as a gig at Come Together Festival and Homebake. I’m going to some funk gig on Friday night so I hope that will be good.

Did The ‘Sixties’ Influence Modern Rock Music?

The Sixties are often cited as the era when rock music was created. Rock Music is defined as a group of related music styles that have dominated popular music in the West since about 1955. Rock music began in the United States, but it has influenced and in turn been shaped by a broad field of cultures and musical traditions, including gospel music, the blues, jazz, country-and-western music, classical music, folk music, electronic music, and the popular music of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The term 'rock music' commonly refers to modern popular music styles that emerged after 1959. Major rock-music styles include rock and roll, a term 'appropriated' by white musicians in the 60s, and rhythm-and-blues music, influenced mainly by Afro-American musicians. Each of these major genres encompasses a variety of sub styles, such as heavy metal, punk, reggae, alternative and grunge. While innovations in rock music have often occurred in regional centres such, as New York City, Kingston in Jamaica, and Liverpool in England, the influence of rock music is now felt worldwide.

1954, six years before the decade of the sixties would begin, a man named Elvis Presley fused Black American rhythm and blues with Southern USA country ballads. Idol in the Fifties, legend in the Sixties and Seventies and, after his premature death, and icon of god-like stature, he remains the undisputed King of rock’n’roll. When rock first reared its rebellious head in the sneering shape of Elvis Aaron Presley, competition simply didn’t exist. Presley’s arrival at Sun Studios in Memphis was an event that lit blue touch paper and signalled the start of the rock revolution. Elvis, along with others such as Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, had for the first time narrowed the generation gap of musical taste.

It scared people that young men, with their flashy cloths, their electric instruments and their loud pent up sound, could make their children, as well as themselves, get up and dance. A new creative platform had been formed and it wasn’t going to be dislodged as an integral part of American modern culture. Across the Atlantic it was also taking root in Britain and wasn’t long before Britain, as America had been, would become the ‘leader of the pack.’

The Beatles were quite simply phenomenal. They changed lives; they changed rock music; they changed the world. In 1963, their single Please Please Me topped three of the UK’s music charts. 12 more number one singles and a nation wide tour followed it. In 1964 the Beatles travelled to New York City to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, and launched the so-called ‘British Invasion’. Influenced by American recordings, British pop bands of the period invigorated the popular music mainstream and confirmed the international stature of rock music. Soon several British groups had developed distinctive styles. The Beatles combined the guitar-based rock and roll of Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly with the artistry of the Tin Pan Alley style. The Animals blended blues and R&B influences. And the Rolling Stones joined aspects of Chicago blues to their intense, forceful music.

As with early rock and roll, the major American record companies did not take the British bands seriously. The Beatles' first hit singles in the United States were released through small, independent record companies. It did not take long for the British bands to break that reception down – they were too hot. Many American musicians reacted by developing their own distinctive look and sound. In 1965 Bob Dylan performed live and in-studio with a band that played electric instruments, alienating many folk-music purists in the process. The folk-rock style was further pioneered by the The Byrds, who had a number-one hit on the Billboard magazine music charts with a version of Dylan's song “Mr. Tambourine Man.” The short-lived group Buffalo Springfield formed in 1966, blending aspects of rock and country-and-western music to create country rock. The point at which rock music emerged as a genre distinct from the mainstream pop scene is difficult to define but after 1964 music was created with less with a view to financial reward and more with an eye to artistic fulfilment.

Centres of rock music became permanent fixtures and are still standing beacons of artistic expression such as London, Chicago and New York. Another important centre of rock music in the 1960s was Los Angeles, where Jim Morrison formed the group the Doors and guitarist and composer Frank Zappa developed a unique blend of bizarre humour and complex jazz-influenced songs with his group The Mothers of Invention. San Francisco rock or psychedelic rock emerged around 1966 and was associated with the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD. Bands such as Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead experimented with long, improvised stretches of music called jams.

Drugs are still very current issues in modern rock because of the experimentation of the Sixties. In 1967 the Beatles were in Abbey Road Studios putting the finishing touches on their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. At one point Paul McCartney wandered down the corridor and heard what was then a new young band called Pink Floyd working on their hypnotic debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. He listened for a moment, then came rushing back. "Hey guys," he reputedly said, "There's a new band in there and they're gonna steal our thunder." With their mix of blues, music hall influences, Lewis Carroll references, and experimentation, Pink Floyd was one of the key bands of the 1960s psychedelic revolution.

In the late 1960s hard rock emerged, focusing on thick layers of sound, loud volume levels, and virtuoso guitar solos. In London, American Jimi Hendrix developed a highly influential electric-guitar style. His fiery technique gained exposure at the first large-scale rock festivals in the United States such as the Monterey Pop festival (1967) and Woodstock (1969). In 1966 the first so-called power trio was formed in London, the band Cream, which showcased the virtuosity of guitarist Eric Clapton, and erstwhile jazzmen, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker.

In the late 1960s new styles emerged in the United States, including southern rock, pioneered by the Allman Brothers Band. Jazz rock was beginning to be played, including Latin rock (a blend of Latin American music, jazz and rock influences, and R&B styles), exemplified by the music of Santana. The big Brit bands of the 70s, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple came on the scene. The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - the first rock concept album - had established new standards for studio recording and helped to establish the notion of the rock musician as a creative artist.

The Sixties were groundbreaking because so many talents emerged and amazing techniques and styles were created. From Elvis and Buddy Holly to the creative pop rock of the Beatles and Jefferson Airplane the voices of rock emerged. Modern folk rock might not be around but for the experimentation of Bob Dylan and The Band. The groundbreaking work of Jimi Hendrix on guitar has inspired many modern bands and virtuoso guitarists. Purple Haze by Hendrix is one of the most unforgettable riffs in rock, a ferocious two-note guitar march scarred with fuzz. And it launched not one but two phenomena, late 60’s psychedelia and the unprecedented genius of Hendrix. Every modern band has influences from the sixties. Bands such as the Strokes were influenced by the Velvet Underground and the Vines, who were influenced by the Beatles and so it goes…

Bibliography

Heatley, M, The encyclopedia of rock, Grange Books. London 1997. Captures all the most influential moments and makers of the most popular music of the century

Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2003 © 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. Lots of contributors adding information about their chosen field of expertise

Jim DeRogatis, Kaleidoscope Eyes: Psychedelic Rock from the '60s to the '90s, 1996, looks specifically at the music and traces its strands to the 1990s.

Multiple Rolling Stone editors, Rolling Stone “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” issue 637 March 2005. A celebration of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time

Homebake Lineup

This is the lineup so far for this years Sydney Homebake festival. It will of course increase and I will keep you informed of updates. I’m considering going but at the moment the only pull is Wolfmother who I consider the best band in Australia at the moment, they are making their debut album in Los Angeles at the moment and it should be out later this year, I can’t wait for it. I would also like to see The Living End and the Cat Empire but apart from that nothing else is really appealing to me. But if you are a visitor from another country I recommend Homebake as a way of getting a feel for Australian Music even if this year isn’t so great.
THE FINN BROTHERS • THE LIVING END • SOMETHING FOR KATE • BEN LEE • WOLFMOTHER • THE CAT EMPIRE • CUT COPY • COG • THE SAINTS • THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS • DECODER RING • SARAH BLASKO • END OF FASHION • EVERMORE • THE GO-BETWEENS • PAUL MAC • THE DIRTY THREE • KATALYST & RU C.L • SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM • KISSCHASY • WOLF & CUB

Find out more at the Homebake site http://www.homebake.com/2005/bigindex.html

Remainder’s Gig

If you are in NSW and you want to see the Remainder’s live (the exciting new band I talked about, see earlier post) then head down to the Young Music Festival (a town two hours away from Canberra). They are travelling from Sydney to perform with about ten other local bands. They are performing at about six o’clock this Saturday and then playing unplugged café performances around the town. The guitarist is also entering into a lead guitar competition. If you want to catch them in an interview tune into 93.9 star FM at 8.00 AM on Friday morning. They have also had a bassist swap with Harry Lillis leaving the band and being replaced by Tim Ellwood. These guys are a great fresh band and are fantastic live so check them out.

See a clip of the band live.

Song Review: Ramble On, Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

One Zeppelin’s early acoustic/electric folk ballads remain a favourite for many fans although unlike other songs of the ilk (Over The Hills And Far Away, Bron-Yur-Stomp etc) it was never performed live. It comes from Led Zeppelin II as one of the more complex and thought provoking songs. It tells of a wanderer who laments of his struggles to find his one true love. It has very Tolkien inspired lyrics. "t’was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her....yeah.” There are a couple of other songs such as Misty Mountain Hop and The Battle of Evermore that make Tolkien references suggesting that the novelist had given some inspiration the band. Page even said once that after reading Tolkien he knew that he had to move to the country.

Ramble On is wonderfully well mixed by Page who blends some complex acoustic chord changes with some nice electric melody. John Paul-Jones bass lines are quite inventive and become quite quick at the end of the song. The drums are quite simple but it is rumored that Bonham plays a garbage can on the song. A really nice song and defiantly an all time classic.

Super Groups

Super groups are what you get when members from different bands leave their band and join with other people from different bands. They are super because if their original band was popular then supposedly the new band should be just as good if not better. Early examples of super groups include Cream, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Modern examples are Velvet Revolver and Pearl Jam. This is an excerpt from BBC News.

Zeppelin voted 'ideal supergroup'

The four members of Led Zeppelin have been voted the UK's ideal supergroup, with Robert Plant beating the late Freddie Mercury to best singer.

About 3,500 music fans were polled for Planet Rock Radio and were asked to create their fantasy band.

Jimmy Page won best guitarist, followed by Guns N' Roses' Slash and Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore.

And John Paul Jones was named top bassist, with John Bonham, who died in 1980, winning best drummer.

Presenter Trevor Dann, of Planet Rock radio, which compiled the poll, said: "This is an amazing result. Listeners could have voted for any classic rock artists when creating their fantasy supergroup."

Zeppelin's classic 1971 hit Stairway to Heaven was recently named the nation's favourite rock song of all time recently.

Here are the lists in full:

Best singer

1. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
2. Freddie Mercury (Queen)
3. Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Company)
4. David Coverdale (Deep Purple, Whitesnake)
5. Ian Gillan (Deep Purple)
6. Bon Scott (AC/DC)
7. Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow)
8. Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)
9. Roger Daltrey (The Who)
10. Bono (U2)

Best guitarist

1. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
2. Slash (Guns N' Roses)
3. Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple)
4. Jimi Hendrix
5. Angus Young (AC/DC)
6. Gary Moore
7. Brian May (Queen)
8. Joe Satriani
9. Steve Vai
10. David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)

Best bassist

1. John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
2. John Entwistle (The Who)
3. Chris Squire (Yes)
4. Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
5. Geddy Lee (Rush)
6. Jack Bruce (Cream)
7. Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
8. Lemmy (Motorhead)
9. Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
10. Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)

Best drummer

1. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
2. Neil Peart (Rush)
3. Keith Moon (The Who)
4. Cozy Powell (Black Sabbath, Rainbow)
5. Phil Collins (Genesis)
6. Ginger Baker (Cream)
7. Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
8. Roger Taylor (Queen)
9. Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters)
10. Eric Carr (Kiss)

Well this defiantly proves what a popular band that Zeppelin was. My personnel choice of super group would be:

Vocals: Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)

Lead Guitarist: Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

Rhythm Guitarist and Backing Vocals: John Lennon (The Beatles)

Bassist: Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)

Drummer: John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

So mine’s pretty close to the most voted. Plant because he has such a great vocal range, Jimmy because he is just so musically talented. I kind of cheated putting John Lennon in but a good band should have back up guitar and he was such a great song writer. Geezer because he just has great raw punch that bass needs. And Bonham because he was the loudest drummer in England if not the world. I Just love super groups because they can be so unpredictable and fresh. Feel free to create your own super group in comments.

Hey dude...

Fiona Katauskas cartoon

Exciting New Band

The Remainders are a new band who play with a style that is quite old. Listening to their live set reveals the raw hard hitting punch of Nirvana with the classy style of Led Zeppelin. Some of their songs that are not played live are softer melodies - songs that are reminiscent of the Kinks, the Beatles and Neil Young. The Remainders believe that they are all that is left of a particular style of music that has had it’s time and is gone, hence the name.

Being a very new Australian band they have yet to receive wider publicity and have only performed at gigs around the Liverpool area in Sydney. They were entrants in the 2005 Youth Rock and also performed at the first Molong Music Festival, along side veteran band, the Angels and popular newcomers Thirsty Merc, although the music played by the Remainders was in stark contrast to other bands at the event.

Live sets by the Remainders will often contain a couple of cover songs that reflect their own unique style, as well as their own brand of highly charged original material. Covered songs are often by bands such as Nirvana, Beatles, Pixies, Kiss, Jimi Hendrix and the Vines. The band is Luke Stanford (vocals and rhythm guitar), Jack Ellwood (lead guitar), Ian Whipple (drummer) and Harrison Lillis (bass guitar).

Contacts: Luke Stanford Phone Number: 0409249925
Jack Ellwood Phone Number: 0417151052
Email : theremainders@hotmail.com

Who Created Grunge

Grunge is basically the use of overdriven guitars mixed with overwrought vocals. As is often the case the belief is that Nirvana created Grunge, although their sound is mostly the base for modern grunge. Grunge has its roots in Punk, Metal and New Wave. Grunge can probably be traced back to Black Sabbath and the Velvet Underground. Black Sabbath (Nirvana said their main influences were Black Sabbath and Black Flag, an Eighties punk band) was one of the first bands to use heavily distorted guitar.

The Velvet Underground, although their career was short, they influenced many later bands, including the punk generation. Out of the Velvet Underground came the notion of indie guitar, New Wave and Alternative which both ran parrel with punk throughout the seventies and eighties with such bands as the Psychedelic Furs, the
Police and the Black Crowes. Another indie-punk band that was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground was the Pixies. They, together with a band called Green River, must be credited as the first grunge bands due to their use of the overdriven guitars (which funnily enough was a technique first used by Neil Young) and overwrought vocals.

When Andrew Wood (Green River lead singer) died in 1990, Stone Gossard, (lead guitarist) and Jeff Ament (bassist) along with two members of Sound Garden created the Temple Of The Dog album as a tribute to Wood. The album along with Nirvana’s Nevermind is considered two of Grunge’s definitive albums. Seattle became known as the Grunge city as three of the most influential bands of modern grunge made their mark on the music scene there. Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam who had formed from the ashes of Green River and Temple Of The Dog.

It must be said that Nirvana was the band commercialised grunge due to their almost overnight success that was to be a popular sound of the Nineties and into the Naughties. Modern Grunge bands include Queens of the Stone Age, the Foo Fighters, Audioslave and Silverchair. Interested in a more in depth study of Grunge, check out www.seattlesound.de.

upcoming articles

Haven't done any serious blogging for a while but I have some real good pieces coming up. I have an article on John Lennon and one on who created Grunge. I will have a feature article on a great local Sydney band called the Remainders; an album review on the Vines first album "Highly Evolved" and something on where Rock is going and who is taking it there.

Look out for these in the the near future...

and Beefheart's good friend, Frank

The sheik of hollywood

It was not only Frank Zappa's absurd sense of humor that made him a revered rock legend. He was also one of rock's very best composers, drawing from a deep understanding of classical music, as well as 50's rock and 70's pop. He was a flamboyant stage performer and a seriously good guitarist; and always played with great musicians.

Check out 46 tracks by various artists, including Frank himself, celebrating Zappa magic at The Chrome Dinette Website. "Inca Roads" is special.

A ‘Beefheart’ experience

Beefheart & the Magic Band in action

Found this story on a Beefheart Fan Site. Enjoy…

Melvin N. deSnoids recalls a concert at Paramount Thetre, Portland, Oregon, in 1970:

“The first time I saw Captain Beefheart was in 1970 at the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregon, shortly after the Lick My Decals, Baby album came out. My band-mates and I were sitting front-row, centre, along with our friend Matt Groening, who had introduced us to Beefheart via the Trout Mask Replica LP.

First, Ed Marimba came out to a lone microphone that was center-stage, in front of the closed curtains. He was wearing the full-blown evening-suit with tails that he wore on the Decals front-cover. He had a monocle in one eye and was carrying an orchestral slapstick. Without saying a word he faced the audience, standing rigidly erect. Suddenly, he sounded the slapstick., somehow popping his monocle straight out from his eye, simultaneously with the pop of the slapstick. Still without saying a word, he reached into his breast-pocket and withdrew a toy plastic raygun. He held it out at arms-length and moved it from side to side in front of the microphone while pumping the trigger, causing sparks to fly while the raspy sound of the raygun swept spatially across the theatre. He then spoke: "This is my raygun - my REAGAN - got me?"

The curtains opened, revealing a full set of orchestral percussion equipment, along with the Magic Band's gear. He walked back behind a huge marimba and launched into an avant-garde percussion solo that lasted several minutes.

During the solo, Drumbo came out on stage in blackface make-up and cavorted around like a caveman for a few moments before settling-in behind his drum kit. He then joined Ed Marimba in a furious percussion duet while the rest of the Magic Band walked on-stage and took up their instruments. They launched directly into "When Big Joan Sets Up" as Captain Beefheart strolled to centre-stage, playing a soprano saxophone. Beefheart started singing and I blissed out...

It was, without a doubt, the best rock concert that I've ever been fortunate enough to attend.

Afterwards, we milled around in front of the stage until Captain Beefheart and the band came back for their instruments. There were security guards posted by the stage who wouldn't let us go up, so I yelled "Hey, Captain - can we come up?"

He looked up and said, "Sure - come on up!", so we pushed past the security. Beefheart caught a dirty look from one of the guards & said, "Oops - maybe I shouldn't have said that..." but by then it was too late - we were face-to-face with our idols.

Beefheart & the Magic Band members were totally cool - they let us hang out with them and ask a million questions, even though we were only teenagers. Beefheart even introduced us to his wife, Jan. They said that they were living in the mountains above Santa Cruz & invited us to visit them sometime.

The next spring, we loaded up a VW bus and headed down to California. We never did find them, but that's another story... “

Check out the Website where I found this...there is plenty of good info.

...and remember the 'Dead'

Check out dead.net for more about these rockers! Get streaming Dead at GD Radio.

Classic Telecaster

Posted by kraken (click to enhance image)

Song Review: Come As You Are, Written by Nirvana

Come As You Are was the second single from Nirvana’s hit album Nevermind. This song along with Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, and Lithium were the highlights of the ‘first’ commercially successful grunge album. Like a lot of the album, the song is an attack on modern society, which has always appealed, in every decade of rock and roll, to the general population of young music listeners. Although, Come As You Are is relatively softer than the heavily over wrought guitar sound in other songs. It is often said that the main riff was taken from a Killing Joke song.

The riff although not the hardest to play is difficult to play while singing at the same time. When Kurt Cobain was asked what the song is about he answered, ‘A song full of contradictions on how we act versus how we think society thinks we should act.’ The song has relatively simple guitar and bass lines, the real effort is in the vocals. It is nevertheless an important song in the popularisation of Grunge.