WHAT’S GOING AHN – February 9th

Posted on 09 February 2012

HEY HO, LET’S GOOOOOO.

As usual, a lot of linkage to share with you.  If you come across anything that you want to share with your fellow Pop Pioneers here at PGH, please forward the tip or link to me at:  popgeekheaven@gmail.com

BIG STAR:  So let’s start with something near and dear to my heart – BIG STAR.  Ask me on most day what my favorite album of all time is, most of those days will yield the response “Radio City”.  The date I bought this album is forever seared into my consciousness – it was that powerful.  January 10, 1975, Woolworth’s – Needham, Massaschusetts.  The day was sunny and cold.

Anyway, there is a full-on documentary that has been completed and will  be coming out sometime in 2012.  YOU, fellow pop geek, want to stay abreast with this news.

Bookmark THIS SITE  – Also, another site to check in with if yr into Big Star is HERE

PAUL COLLINS & PETER CASE:  They are on tour – together!   They are completely committed to putting on a show that is only going to hugely please fans of both artists.  Get the information on the dates and what they are up to at THIS LINK.   Also, another aticle on the tour at THIS LINK.

THE MICE/BILL FOX:  If you were into power pop back in the 80s, you may have come across a slab of vinyl by a band from Ohio called THE MICE and called “Scooter”.  It was a blast of frenetic, massively hooky Buzzcocks-y power pop that sounded unlike anything that had been heard.  Still sounds fresh today.  It’s been reissued on CD some years back, along with solo outings from Mice-leader Bill Fox.  Go to THIS LINK and you can grab a few downloads – one from Fox, one from The Mice – and get the latest news on Fox/The Mice.

PAT DINIZIO:  Pat DiNizio goes VEGAS!  It is most true.  Feast your eyes on this one man show!  Read about it HERE and HERE.

THE MOVE:  Ultimate 2 CD live set from 1969 will be released on February, 21st.  I’ve heard some of the tracks  – and they are of extreme, high-sonic quality and the track listing surpreme.  Check it out HERE.

PAUL BRILL:  This guy has been doing film and TV work for sometime and his last album that I was aware of, Harpooner, from 2006 or so, was a downer and did not move my boat to land at all.  He’s back,though..and this one sounds pretty darn awesome – it’s in my Amazon queue for my next order. Read about Brill HERE and listen to samples HERE.

THE FEATURES:  Back around 10 years ago, The Features came onto the power pop scene with a few releases of Ben Folds-y, keyboard happy tuneage.  Not heard much about them over the years(funny, they signed to a major label and…’disappeared’ from most folks’ radars)  but came across THIS ARTICLE the other day on the band and their re-emergence.

TOMMY KEENE – an article on Tommy appears HERE and HERE

TWO SHEDS JACKSON:  I put up a song in THE SURPRISE BOX area a few days ago but this is an exciting project from Germany and which features Rick Hromadka from Maple Mars as a featured guest.  The EP is fabulous and and you can grab the PGH giveaway song HERE – but here’s where you can pick up the EP on Itunes – HERE

MATTHEW SWEET – “Girlfriend” turns 20!  Great article at Big Hollywood celebrating this power pop miletsone – HERE

THE WELL WISHERS – a new album was just released 10 days ago – it’s called “Dreaming of the West Coast” – I’ve been a big fan of WW leader Jeff Shelton for almost 20 years and Not Lame Recordings even released two Well Wishers albums some years back.  Check out info on the new release – HERE

Speaking of The Surprise Box, make sure you check out the latest stream of songs that have been put there in the last few weeks – go HERE

VERY COOL POWER POP-PY LABEL – Just came across this by accident when proofing my latest book that features The Agony Aunts – but the label, Mystery Lawn,  that put out their record has been active with a lot of cool, new music that should be keen interest to many here at Pop Geek Heaven, including a new record from John Moreman that sounds pretty darn excellent from the samples.  Check out they are offering at THIS LINK.

THE CRY – enjoyable interview from Kurt Baker on the band at THIS LINK.  But, also, there’s free music from the band inside THE SURPRISE BOX if you go HERE.

FOXY SHAZAM:  Not, The Shazam, who you will be hearing from very soon here at PGH, but Foxy Shazam who have released 3 truly eclectic, awe-inspiring slabs of glammy, over the top, kitschy rock ‘n roll. Their new one is freaking AWESOME – HERE is an article on it.

OBSCURE POWER POP – THE REACTIONS:  Serious power pop collectors have heard of The Reactions from South Florida who were around in the early 80s.  This is not The Reactions from the UK, who released some great singles around the same time.  Cheap Records has released a limited LP(which comes with a download card) of the bands recordings and a whole host of lost recordings.   There’s some great late 70s styled punk with plenty of power pop melodies to go around – not for everyone but you can listen to it before buying HERE.

HOWLER:  came across an article at THIS LINK on this new punky, pure poppy styled band fronted by a 19 year old who is most certainly buying vinyl.  Well worth checking out for many here, imho.  Listen to it at Amazon HERE.

COOL NOT-SO NEW BLOG: Ear Candy has been around a long time and I used to check it out years ago but it fell off my radar – just tripped across it again last week.  Your turn – HERE

ROGER WATERS:  Waters recently did an hour long interview with Howard Stern – Here is the full video that you can watch below.

ROCK ‘n ROLL IS DEAD/LONG LIVE ROCK ‘n ROLL/Guitar Music Is Dead:   THIS LINK is an amusing, interesting article from The Independent that puts forth a fascinating argument as to the state of the rock ‘n roll.

VINYL, VINYL, VINYL:  Yes, yes…that black stuff is exploding.  A good thing. A very, very good thing.  How much did sales explode in 2011?  Read about it HERE.

MUSIC PIRACY ARTICLE:  THIS LINK has an interesting article and different take on the whole landscape of digital piracy and downloading.  It’s a quick read.

 

3 Responses to “WHAT’S GOING AHN – February 9th”

  1. Rhett says:

    Speaking of Big Star – be sure to check out Omnivore Records for the Alex Chilton solo disc ‘1969’. It’s been reissued by Omnivore and has bonus tracks. There’s even an exclusive 45 record with exclusive tracks and an LP of the reissue too.

    Omnivore also released both Jellyfish albums on vinyl back in January – on colored vinyl to boot! Those are all sold out now and Omnivore is going to press the 2 releases on black vinyl.

    Speaking of music piracy, it’s interesting to note that megaupload was busted and taken down: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-19/megaupload-feds-shutdown/52678528/1

    Now there’s speculation as to why it was taken down – which is pretty interesting too: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111314089359991626869/posts/HQJxDRiwAWq

    And more here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/01/24/is-this-the-real-reason-why-megaupload-was-shut-down/

    I’m going to refrain from giving you my opinion on the subject but I’ll let you read the supplied links and make up your own mind as to what is happening here.

  2. Rhett says:

    That Big Star doc has been in the works for years now! I mean years!

    At first there was a movie that was in the works – a biopic on Big Star. It was being written by Scott Edmund Lane.

    That seemed interesting – I was lucky enough to read the first 2o pages of the screenplay.

    Then I don’t know what happened. I guess Scott just gave up on the project as it went nowhere. The next thing I heard – maybe a year later was that a BS documentary was being made. So this is like 4 or 5 years later.

    Heck, Jim Dickinson is in the doc and he’s been dead for like 2+ years now!

  3. John Buckwalter says:

    Hey Bruce – I bought Radio City on sale for 49 cents in a Woolworth’s too!! Swear to God. I was like 14 or 15 and it was after my piano lesson in downtown Lancaster PA in the early 70’s. I had never heard of Big Star. When I got home and played the record I couldn’t figure it out because sounded different from all the other “Rock” albums of the time. I filed it away and played it a few years later in high school and I was blown away.