Ford Pier goes Organ Farming
If you’re north of the border in Toronto or Vancouver, you may be familiar with Ford Pier. Ford plays a variety of instruments, and has played with a load of different bands up in Canada…the Hard Rubber Orchestra, the Buttless Chaps (yes!), the Sadies, the Rheostatics, and many others. He was actually a member of Vancouver punk legends D.O.A. in one of their incarnations in the 90’s.
I got a hold of Ford’s new EP, Organ Farming. While he plays most everything you hear by himself, also playing on the EP are members of Fembots, the Weakerthans, and the Ron Sexsmith Band.
This EP was released electronically on June 5th. Later this year, he’ll release a full length album entitled Adventurism.
Take a listen to Ford’s punk-indie blend.
Ford Pier –
Maybe It Came At the Wrong Time(mp3) – from Organ Farming (Six Shooter Records)Ford Pier’s MySpace
Wilco on World Cafe, June 15th
Unless Wilco books a date here in the Phoenix / Tucson area before September, I have a good two and a half months left until I see them at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. To tide me over, it’s nice to come across nuggets of Wilco goodness like this, their recent appearance on NPR’s World Cafe.
Fast forward to ’24. Can’t find the World Cafe performance from 2007, but here’s their Austin City Limits episode from that year!
Rihanna’s Umbrella
You usually won’t find me too in touch with the Top 40 hits of the day (or the Hot 100 on Billboard), but Rihanna pulled me right in to this video. I could do without Jay-Z’s bantering at the beginning, but that’s what you get these days. Wherever you look on the charts, you get the obligatory Artist Name featuring currently hot hip-hop star. A quick scan of the Hot 100 shows:
- T-Pain Feat. Yung Joc
- T-Pain feat. Akon
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony feat. Akon
- Gwen Stefani feat. Akon
- Fergie feat. Ludacris
- Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo
- D.J. Khaled feat. T.I., Akon, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, and Baby
- and a lot more
Maybe I’m old and grumpy, but that pisses me off (for no particular reason). And that Akon, what a class act he is.
But back to Rihanna. I genuinely like this song. What’s not to like about a hot 19 year old from Barbados. *slap* Snap out of it Pete.
To quote the great Borat: “Wa wa woo wah!”
UK Punk: Wire
On to another UK punk band formed in 1976, a band I had quite frankly never heard of until yesterday (thanks melchman for bringing in their debut CD). Wire was right there though, putting out a brand of art punk / post-punk that influenced later artists like Henry Rollins, REM, and the Minutemen, to name a few.
Pink Flag was their debut, released in December 1977. It’s 21 songs of thrashing punk rock, several of the songs clocking in at under a minute. This one’s just over a minute long.
Wire – Surgeon’s Girl – from Pink Flag
Wire’s Official Site.
Austin, Here I Come
I’m happy to report that Ickmusic’s entire staff (okay, me) will descend upon Austin this September for the Austin City Limits Festival.
Who am I looking forward to seeing? Oh let’s see… Wilco, Steve Earle, Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, My Morning Jacket, the White Stripes, Amy Winehouse, Damien Rice, Arctic Monkeys, Lucinda Williams, Yo La Tengo, The National, Beausoleil, STS9, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Reverend Horton Heat, Raul Malo, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and 112 other bands.
The full schedule was released this morning (download PDF). As Ace from Hidden Track mentions, there will be some pretty difficult decisions to make, since a few acts are hitting different stages at the same time. The biggest conflict for me is Wilco vs. My Morning Jacket. I’ve seen both before, and both were amazing live experiences. Do I dare do half and half? Hmm.
More conflicts: Arcade Fire vs. the White Stripes. Arcade Fire wins for me. I cannot wait to see them live. And others: Beausoleil vs. Amy Winehouse (Amy fo’ sho’), and Preservation Hall vs. Amos Lee (half & half).
So I know Ace is going. Who else is in?
Prince at the Roosevelt – Don’t You Wanna Come, 3121 (dollars?)
So hearing that Prince would be playing a few weekends at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel got me excited at first. A 6 hour drive for a weekend in L.A. and a Prince show would be just a-ok with me. But rumors from the start were that ticket prices would be – oh – not catered to un-rich punks like me.
Today, the drones on 3121.com, who have 2 spell like Prince, posted this:
The xperience is about 2 begin. Emale 3121hrh@thompsonhotels.com 4 ticket in4mation.
There’s a terrific way to disseminate information. Ask thousands upon thousands of people to “emale” you… So, I emaled them (still waiting for a reply)… then I went bouncing over to Housequake for the latest unsubstantiated rumors. And the word on the street is this: if you want to be in the standing room only crowd, you’re going to pay $312.01. Now, what if you want to sit at a table for two, have dinner, and catch the aftershow? Well, you can cough up a spare $3,121.00, can’t you?
Here’s hoping that his next album after Planet Earth is entitled ’40’.
UK Punk: The Damned
Well, while we’re at it, let’s continue the UK punk theme with the Damned. They’re punk legends in their own right, being contemporaries of the Clash and the Sex Pistols in the class of ’76. They’re still together too, though only two original members remain (singer Dave Vanian and guitarist Captain Sensible). Former drummer Rat Scabies hung around for a long time, but is no longer with them. Rat Scabies – hands down one of the best punk names ever.
If anyone wants to help keep the UK punk theme going, I’m happy to oblige. Leave some comments below with your recommendations. How obscure can we get? (I may need some help tracking down the tunes).
The Damned – Smash It Up
From Machine Gun Etiquette.
Check out the Damned on their Official Site | the video for “Smash it Up”
Update: And you all have to check out this live version of “Neat Neat Neat” from what it says is 1979. The video starts off with what appears to be ol’ Cap’n Sensible relieving himself into the crowd. Man, I’d heard about the British gobbing (spitting) craze at the early punk shows, but pissing?
UK Punk: 999
Here’s one recently heard on Sirius Satellite’s Punk channel. As much as I’ve enjoyed the Clash and the Sex Pistols, I haven’t had too much exposure in my life to other UK punk bands of the era (the late 70’s punk “revolution”); bands like the Damned, the Buzzcocks, and this group: 999.
Formed in London in December 1976, the band was originally made up of singer / guitarist Nick Cash, guitarist Guy Days, bassist Jon Watson, and drummer Pablo LaBrittain. All but Watson are still going strong to this day, and should have a new albm of material out later this year.
This song is from their fourth album, 1980’s The Biggest Prize in Sport. It has a punk / pop anthem type feel to it. Good stuff…
999 – Found Out Too Late
999’s Official Site.
Buy Biggest Prize in Sport (Amazon)
Ickmusic Live: Bruce Cockburn, 1993
“Wow”, I say.
As a lover, yes lover, of Bruce Cockburn‘s music, coming across this crystal clear show from 1993 – the year I discovered his music – is a godsend. My very favorite Cockburn tune, “All the Ways I Want You”? Check. Second favorite, “One Day I Walk”? Check. Pissed off activist Bruce? Check (“Stolen Land”, “Maybe the Poet”, “Rocket Launcher”). Great sense of humor in the between-song banter? Double check.
Just a great show. If you’re a Cockburn fan and you haven’t heard this, prepare for your head to spin. If you’re not familiar with Bruce’s music, spend some time with this show, and it’s likely you’ll end up a fan.
BRUCE COCKBURN
Fox Theatre
Boulder, CO
August 28th, 1993Introduction
Maybe the Poet
Wondering Where the Lions Are
Tibetan Side of Town
Train in the Rain
All the Ways I Want You
Southland of the Heart
Soul of a Man
The Blues Got the World by the Balls
Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long
Stolen Land
Mighty Trucks of Midnight
If I Had a Rocket Launcher
If a Tree Falls
All the Diamonds in the World
One Day I Walk
Tie Me at the CrossroadsAlso check out:
Bruce’s Official Site
A nudge in the right direction
Just wanted to pass along a couple of nice sites I recently happened upon…
First, A Deeper Shade of Soul. Ben and I are on the same wavelength on a lot of stuff, it seems. I mean, killer live Boss from ’75, live Arcade Fire in Portland, a Bootleg Friday debut with classic Otis Redding, and the kicker – an Amy Winehouse post tonight, the night I was sitting down to do my own Winehouse post. And he used the same image I was planning on using – the cover of the latest Rolling Stone. Ben said it a lot better than I could. Go check out his open letter to Ms. Winehouse.
And finally, Radio Free Wohlman. Mr. Wohlman is a Bay Area radio guy who regularly posts quite tasty podcast “transmissions”. His most recent includes Badfinger, the Beastie Boys, the Klaxons, and m.f.’in Grace Jones (among others).
