Mint Biscuit: Songs & Poems + The Mintiest

Welsh musician Richard Thomas put together a collection of his writings for his one-man band Mint Biscuit, with some of his poetry thrown in for good measure. It is a big one - 328 pages, so Songs & Poems will be keeping the reader entertained for quite some time. He also assembled another "best of" album, The Mintiest, which contains 83 (!) tracks in alphabetical order of the home made guitar excursions he recorded over the years. That rather unusual bit of sequencing was made by mistake, but it makes for an oddball, hopscotch kind of listening, with plenty of happy accidents along the way.

For those who are not familiar with his music, a handy list of his influences can be found in the book: Beatles, Pink Floyd, Cream, Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, Kinks, Kingsmen, Wings, Animals, Doors, Taste, The Jam, Canned Heat, REM, Dinosaur Jr, Nirvana, Kings Of Leon, Foo Fighters, Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam, Reef, Feeder, Spin Doctors, Deep Blue Something, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Elbow, James, Stone Roses, Howlin' Wolf, Mississippi John Hurt, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Wilfred Owen, Horace Andy, Max Bygraves, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Kate Bush, Shirley Bassey, Tamsin West, Alison Moyet, Kelis, Prodigy.

Big Stir Magazine Issue 6: "Is This Power Pop?" special

The folks of Californian label Big Stir Records try to come up with a definition for the music their are releasing in the new issue of Big Stir Magazine. "Is This Power Pop?" was curated by guest editors John M. Borack and S.W. Lauden. If anything they have set out to broaden the scope. Kate Sullivan makes a case for including ELO:

I get the argument that ELO belongs on the power pop spectrum. In the early eighties, they got kinda power poppy— like “Hold On Tight” and “Rock ’n’ Roll Is King.” Lynne started losing the strings, going more rockabilly, developing the sound that became his signature as a producer for George Harrison, Tom Petty, et al. It’s the sound you hear in the Traveling Wilburys. It roams a smaller musical landscape than classic- era ELO, and yeah, okay, you could call it power pop.

ISLE: A Siren's Call

photo: Stefanie de Beurs

Dutch dream pop duo ISLE singer Lise Low and multi-instrumentalist Arjan de Wit bonded over a love for free flowing music and set out to create an alternate universe where their ideas could grow and bear fruit. Their debut album A Siren's Call is an ode to nature, a trip to both an inner and outer world that is deceptively peaceful. As musicians they like to test the boundaries of their skills - Low struggles a bit sometimes to reach the high notes in Indigo Sky, but always manages to stay in tune.

Using trip hop rhythms to give some of the songs a gentle nudge was a smart move, but they really shine when the music becomes more abstract in conjunction with orchestrated parts like they use in Pilgrims & Nomads and Paint The World. Lyrically they can be romantic or very direct as they do in the opening verse of Louder (come hither backbeat included): "Your beautiful body seems only to call my name // The strength in your soft touch // is driving me insane // Your voice like a siren // enchants me, and I can't // escape // You call out my name and you // wait for the moment I break".

Phenomenal Cat: Pop Wasteland

Concept albums and rock operas are not en vogue anymore, but that did not stop English sextet Phenomenal Cat from releasing one in 2017. As they prepare themselves for their next album, it is high time to have a listen to their previous record, the sprawling Sci-Fi extravagaza Pop Wasteland, a double album set in an alternate version of their hometown Folkestone in Kent: dystopian, pastoral, and first and foremost the work of a band that put their love for the music by The Kinks (they named themselves after a song from their The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society album) to good use to create a truly captivating story. Ray Davies strived to expand the basic rock format by adding brass and woodwinds, and they followed suit, enabling them to use a wide array of textures. As this album follows the classic 2LP format each side starts with a narration read by actor Kenneth Colley, best known for his portrayal of Admiral Piett in the Star Wars movies. Recurring themes act both as linking pieces and as a means to give the listener a hint in which setting the tale is taking place at any given time. And if the story line isn't exactly clear the accompanying B&W graphic novel by the band's drummer Ben Day will set the record straight.

Pop Wasteland, written by the band's singer and lead guitarist Samuel Carney, tells the story of one Albert Blood, a guy who is stuck in a dead-end job in a dead-end town, working 16 hours a day for a company called the Factory. For entertainment he only has really bad TV-shows, sketchy betting shops, and of course the music sucks. He is plagued by headaches and the pills don't help at all. He wants out, hoping for a revolution of some kind. A flooding knocks out the power, leaving the people in a flux, not knowing what to do when their regular, numbing programming grinds to a halt. The powers that be rely on diversions to keep the workforce at bay, with vague promises of a better life - in Welcome To Suburbia materialism acts as a surrogate for happiness with a brand new German car on the drive. But at night patrols roam the streets to round up anyone who is not spending the night in his lumpy bed. Behind the facade is a system that is dead set on keeping control.

Broeder Dieleman: Uut de bron

Dutch singer broeder Dieleman's latest release Uut de Bron comes with a book compiling all the lyrics from his back catalog plus a CD with brand new recordings documenting his wanderings in Zeeuws Vlaanderen. The book contains an interview/essay by Dennis Gaens, who fails to break down the barrier that the shy Dieleman has built around himself, dismissing all the compliments, scrutiny and close reading that his lyrics have attracted. He sees things and writes about them, and that is all, he claims. Besides his obvious love for nature in general and birds in particular he sings about things that get overlooked by most people: crumbling buildings and deserted villages. Beauty can be found in unremarkable and even ugly things.

He is a poet writing in the dialect of his mother tongue. Growing up in the strict environment of the Dutch reformed church was tough, but Dieleman decided to put it to good use for his music, which is sparse but welcoming. The new songs with ample use of recordings that capture the sounds of nature (and the horn of the ferry Prinses Christina) are a field trip under the huge skies of the almost empty landscape of this part of The Netherlands. They are offered as one long, sprawling fifty minutes plus composition. Close your eyes and follow Dieleman's guidance. His voice transcends any language barrier that non-Dutch listeners might run into.

Bryan Beller: bass clinics

Bass ace Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Dethklok) will be sharing his knowledge about becoming a low end expert:

I really enjoy doing group instructional work, and I’ve missed doing clinics. Touring is great, don’t get me wrong, but the opportunity to connect with bassists and musicians on a more intimate level is something I’m looking forward to doing again.

• 05/27 Professional Music Center – Des Moines, IA
• 05/28 Chicago Music Exchange – Chicago, IL
• 05/30 Bass Break Live – Washington, DC (weekend bass retreat)
• 06/16 Bass San Diego – San Diego, CA

All start times 7pm except for Bass Break Live. He will be on the road with The Aristocrats this Summer. A Fall tour with Joe Satriani is next.

» bryanbeller.com

Alexandra Crockett: Metal Cats

Oakland photographer Alexandra Crockett will publish her book Metal Cats with portraits of musicians posing with their feline friends on May 6th.

She took pictures of members of the bands Black Goat, Thrones, Isis, Lightning Swords of Death, Book of Black Earth, Skarp, Harassor, Akimbo, Aldebaran, Atriarch, Oak, Ghoul, Ludicra, Holy Grail, Xasthur, Cattle Decapitation, Murder Construct, Exhumed, Morbid Angel, Municipal Waste, Skeletonwitch, Gypsyhawk, Nausea, Phobia, and Napalm Death. Goes to show that fierce looking guys can't resist an animal that can outstare them without even trying.

Metal Cats is available for preorder from Amazon. A portion of the proceeds from this book and a series of benefit shows held along the West Coast will go towards one no-kill shelter in each of the four main cities visited.

» Metal Cats on Facebook

Wait For The Ricochet: an in-depth history of Deep Purple's "In Rock" album

Deep Durple connaisseurs Simon Robinson and Stephen Clare have published Wait For The Ricochet, a new book about the classic Mk II album In Rock. Lavishly illustrated with rare photos and concert memorabalia. Interviews with Jon Lord, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover.

Wait For The Ricochet is published by Robinson's company Easy On The Eye books. Buy it from Easy On The Eye online store, or through the Deep Purple fans website Darker Than Blue.

ISBN : 978-0-9561439-6-9.  168 pages, full colour, plus softback covers.

(Thru: The Highway Star)

Passion For Vinyl - A tribute to all who dig the groove

Music journalist and self-proclaimed vinyl fanatic Robert Haagsma has written a love letter to vinyl, interviewing collectors, shop owners and artists who share his passion. Passion For Vinyl - A tribute to all who dig the groove comes with a special single by Dutch wunderkind Jacco Gardner's Chameleon and the hard cover book is individually numbered. Haagsma:

About twenty years ago I began to write about music, for newspapers and magazines. I am currently part of the editorial team of metal magazine Aardschok and the all-round music magazine Revolver’s Lust For Life. Articles also appeared in various international publications like Record Collector and Ugly Things. I’ve written books about local and international acts like Golden Earring, Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys. Although I play the occasional CD and DVD, I still think that a vinyl record is the best sound carrier ever invented. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an audiophile pressing of a classical piece or a heavy slab of Norwegian black metal – when the needle hits the groove it never fails to captivate me.

Haagsma sat down with Henry Rollins, Bernie Grundman, Hans Pokora, Chris Ellis, Kevin Lewandowski, Steffi, Mala, Vaughan Oliver, Lee Dorrian, Jacco Gardner and John Dyer Baizley and many others share their unconditional love for vinyl. One of the chapters deals with the history of Record Industry, the Dutch factory that has been pressing vinyl since the 1950’s. With the increased popularity of vinyl, business is booming. Lots of bands skip the CD as their main physical product and go for an LP (with a download code inserted into the gatefold sleeve and sometimes a free CD as well).

Vinyl is back. Ikea's Expedits are selling like hotcakes as cheap but sturdy storage for LPs. Independent recrord stores dedicate more floor space to LPs and singles and offer turntables as well. Buyers are no longer frowned upon as freaks or Luddites. Join the club, you're not alone.

» passionforvinyl.com

Jay Blakesberg: JAM

Photographer Jay Blakesberg has nbeen documnting the jamband scene for years now. His new book JAM will be publihed on October 15th. with is instantly recognizable style he stand out among the mass of lenses pointing up to the stage from the front row. From an interview with Cartwheel Art:

Any show you go to now there are anywhere from 5-100 photographers in front of the stage…and everyone thinks if they don’t get the same boring photo of the same singer at the same microphone then they have failed at their assignment. Whether its for their Facebook page, a music blog, a print publication…but its not about just capturing the same boring pedestrian photo and proving you were there in the pit at the rock concert, its about capturing something unique and different. Take a risk, don’t settle for the same shot everyone is getting. It will make you happier, and perhaps be the type of shot the art director you are trying to get to hire you wants that will set you on a course to truly be a successful professional photographer (making a living, not just making extra money).

» blakesberg.com

John Densmore: The Doors: Unhinged - Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial

Drummer John Densmore goes on a record store tour promoting his new book The Doors: Unhinged - Jim Morrison's Legacy Goes On Trial. He looks back on the court case against his former band mates Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger over a $15 million advertising deal for or a Cadillac commercial. He was adamant that there would be no sell-out of The Doors legacy.

Book tour dates:

• 04/20 - 2pm Bull Moose, Scarborough, ME
• 04/21 - 4pm Porter Square Books, Boston, MA
• 04/22 - 5pm Record Archive, Rochester, NY
• 04/23 – 7pm Vintage Vinyl, Fords, NJ
• 05/02 – 7pm The Sound Garden, Baltimore, MD
• 05/06 - 7pm Criminal Records, Atlanta, GA
• 05/07 - 7pm Waterloo Records in Austin, TX
• 05/15 - 7pm Independent, Denver, CO
• 05/16 - 7pm Dimple Records, Sacramento, CA
• 05/17 - 7pm Rasputin (Haight Street), San Francisco, CA
• 05/18 - 1pm Silver Platters / 5pm Elliot Bay Books, Seattle, WA
• 05/19 - 3pm Music Millennium, Portland, OR

» johndensmore.com

Keith Shadwick: Jimi Hendrix: Musician

It's not a problem to fill a couple of shelves with books about Jimi Hendrix. It is problem the ones worth buying. UK music journalist Keith Shadwick published his essential Jimi Hendrix: Musician in 2003 and it has been out-of-print for quite some time. A newly revised and updated edition fills the gap.

Shadwick isn't as interested in the drugs and other distractions that are a major part of lots of another biographies. He follows Hendrix from his humble beginnings, forming a struggling band in the army before becoming a sideman on the chitlin circuit and guitarist for hire, his trip to the UK and via his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival reaching the peak of his musical prowess before getting holed up in the studio recording endless jams and tons of promising songs who were rarely deemed worthy to become a master (or even finished).

He has studied Hendrix (un)officially released output in great detail and writes harsh words about the low quality of many of the posthumous releases. The author died in 2008 and never heard the Winterland and West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology box sets. This edition of his study mentions the inclusion of many of the tracks that Chadwick deemed release worthy.

As a music journalist Shadwick knows how to tell a story, but for Hendrix scholars his dissection of Hendrix technique is the icing on the cake. He acts lik a fly-on-the-wall in the recording studio and he is busy taking notes in the wings during live shows. This is a book urging you to listen to the music. Because that was what Hendrix was. A musician.

Jimi Hendrix: Musician is published by Backbeat Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard. 352 pages. Paperback.

» jimihendrix.com

Gareth Evans: Learn to Play Guitar

A rather good book about mastering the six string: Learn to Play Guitar by Gareth Evans discusses all the basics and is aimed at beginners and intermediate players. The author pays attention to detail, describing the lay-out of the instrument, the various methods of musical notation, basic chords, tuning and replacing the strings (a must before you hit the big time and have a pet guitar tech taking care of that).

It is a good mix of musical theory and hands-on training examples to get you started. The audio samples can be downloaded for free and come in two versions, with and without the guitar, enabling the student to play over the backing track. Of special interest are the stretching exercises. RSI is a bitch and by following the instructions the dreaded carpal tunnel syndrome can be avoided.

The book is published by Intuition Publications as a large scale paperback and can be bought from various retailers trough the author's website. The eBook version is only £1.49.

» guitar-book.com
» intuition-ebook.net

Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book

People tend to forget that Jimi Hendrix was a great lyricist, a poet in his own right besides being the greatest guitar player to walk the face of the earth. His sister Janie L. Hendrix, president and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC, compiled Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book, a lavishly illustrated coffee table book the size of a vinyl box set. It contains the words (in alphabetical order) to all the songs of his studio albums and the best known posthumous tracks:, including unpublished ones: 27 rough sketches for songs that would never see the light of day.

Most of the songs are illustrated by reproductions of the original handwritten lyrics. Jimi did most of his writing on hotel stationary as he traversed the globe to perform his songs before audiences who had never experienced something like his sonic explorations and poetic imagery.

With this book his words come alive: the tender love songs, the macho bravado, the war in Vietnam, and the prospects of space travel that were so dear to him. Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book is a work of love that is a must for all serious fans of the legendary guitarist, a meticulously assembled collection of his songs and more. This is as close as you're gonna get in appreciating the words of an artist whose legacy and influence continues to inspire legions of fans and fellow musicians.

Oh say can you see it's really such a mess,
every inch of earth is a fighting nest.
Giant pencil and lipstick-tube shaped things
continue to rain and cause screamin' pain.
And the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red,
as our feet find the sand and the sea
is straight ahead,
straight up ahead

Jimi Hendix - 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)

Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book is published by Backbeat Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard. 294 pages. Hardback cover.

» jimihendrixlyricbook.com
» jimihendrix.com

John Cale: in Paris for "What's Welsh for Zen" in French

John Cale will be in Librairie Atout Livres in Paris on May 30. The occasion is the French translation of his autobiography What's Welsh for Zen. Q&A and book singing.

Musicien et auteur compositeur (fondateur avec Lou Reed du mythique groupe The Velvet Underground), producteur (Patti Smith, The Stooges, Siouxsie & the Banshees, etc.), le gallois John Cale a écrit avec le biographe Victor Bockris (déjà auteur de biographies sur sur The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Keith Richards, Patti Smith et Muhammad Ali entre autres) son autobiographie “What’s Welsh for Zen” (“C’est quoi le mot gallois pour zen ?”), illustrée par l’anglais Dave McKean (illustrateur de comics comme “Arkham Asylum” et “Cages”).

à la librairie
203 bis avenue Daumesnil
75012 Paris
Métro Daumesnil L6 et L8
Bus 29 46 64

» librest.com

(Thanks: Isabel Vogt)

Peter Hook: How Not To Run A Club

Peter Hook (Joy Division, New Order) has written How Not To Run A Club, a book about the legendary Haçienda in Manchester. The Independent has an exclusive extract. He need to get his facts straight, though. Nico died in 1988, so how can this be?

John Cale comes to mind. One of my heroes. His evening at the Haçienda was a fantastic performance, but just 40 people turned up. And most of them talked all the way through the show. Cale played piano and acoustic guitar, and the music was very quiet. All of the chatter drove me insane. Marc Riley from The Fall was as incensed as I was and we walked through the crowd, poking them telling them to shut up. Cale lived in Manchester with Nico for a while in the 1990s. Nico herself played her last gig at the Haçienda, in 1986. At this point she was living in Manchester with the promoter Alan Wise. She was a very grumpy and miserable lady. Hardly surprising, really – she'd gone from Jim Morrison in LA to a bedsit in Prestwich.

» independent.co.uk

The correct date for this show is in fact March 10, 1983.

"Bad Boy Line" - a John Cale tribute song

photo: Keith Morris

Dai Griffiths is in the department of music at Oxford Brookes University. He is into John Cale, writing "Home is Living Like a Man on the Run": John Cale’s Welsh Atlantic, which might have been the first academic academic article on Cale. It's in Welsh Music History (2000), p. 159-185. Griffiths wrote and recorded a song, a tribute inspired by the Slow Dazzle album.

MP3: Dai Griffiths - Bad Boy Line (John Cale circa 1975)

There are two Welsh phrases towards the end, that mean something like: 'A vengeful God! A terrifying God!'.

» "Home is Living Like a Man on the Run": John Cale’s Welsh Atlantic

Zappa books

As the man said: "Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read." So what good is website that offers information about books and such about Frank Zappa?

The purpose of this site is to provide a little help to those that are looking for written material about Frank Zappa.

» afka.net

(Thru Kill Ugly Radio)

The illustrated Tom Waits

Barry and Sharleena from Kill Ugly Radio can draw pretty good. They did the illustrations for a book on Tom Waits. It's in German and you can have it for only 15 EUR with 12 postcards made by B & S. Toll!

» Buy the book

Gijsbert Hanekroot: "Abba to Zappa" exhibition and book

It's an exhibition. It's a book. A selection from Abba to Zappa by Dutch photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot is shown at the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, The Netherlands:

Photographer Gijsbert Hanekroot selected 39 pop music photos from his collection for this exhibition. From Abba to Zappa, from Neil Young to Talking Heads and from JJ Cale to Keith Richards. An exhibition of powerful black-and-white photos thematically connected with the major exhibition ‘Music in Motion – Journey to the world’s musical  cities’ that is still showing until 23 August.

» rmv.nl
» gijsberthanekroot.nl
» abbazappa.com (download PDF preview)