Johnny Burnette - Crazy Date: Rock And Roll Demos Vol. 1 (Norton Records,2007)

Johnny Burnette - Crazy Date: Rock And Roll Demos Volume 1
Norton Records,2007

LAME -V0 (vbr)
Includes: Front cover, m3u playlist, nfo

One of the pioneers of rockabilly, Johnny Burnette and his brother Dorsey formed The Rock And Roll Trio along with Paul Burlison. He never found a whole lot of real success with that group, but would later on in the early sixties after meeting Ricky Nelson, but as a teenage heartthrob instead of a wild country rocker. Even most of his rockabilly songs are all love oriented, but they're still pretty frantic at times (remember, these are all songs from the early fifties).

Unfortunately, even the fame he did gain didn't last long - in 1964 while fishing late at night, he was struck by a cabin boat and he was ejected from his boat and subsequently drowned.

Favorite Tracks: You Gotta Get Ready, Keep Me In Mind

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The Astronettes - The Astronettes (Astronettes Records , 1990)

The Astronettes - The Astronettes
(Astronettes Records, 1990)

Instrumental surf rock from a nude all girl band? Count me in. (Even if I have seen folks claiming this band is not what they seem to be. Actually an Astronauts rarities bootleg? Well, that works for me too!)

Preview Track (click to play): Martian Pyramid Stomp , Drinkin' and Astronavigatin'

01. Che! Che! Che!
02. Martian Pyramid Stomp
03. Moving
04. Hot Dog Foot
05. Firewaters of Alpha Gabba
06. Space Party
07. Drinkin' and Astronavigatin'
08. Surf into Space
09. Gouch!
10. Quiet Planet
11. Space Silent
12. Space Cock (or Dock?)
13. Quasimoto X9

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Broadcast - HaHa Sound (Warp,2003)

Broadcast - HaHa Sound (Warp,2003)

LAME -V0 (vbr)
Includes: Front cover

The first comparison Broadcast is usually subject to is that of Stereolab (whose own Duophonic label released "Living Room", one of Broadcast's first singles) due to their similar experimental/psychedelic breed of electronica, and there's a few good reasons for that. Several tracks to me sound like a blend of Silver Apples and Stereolab, and it's actually pulled off pretty well. Throw in some deadly beautiful singing courtesy of Trish Keenan, and you've got their own version of Lætitia Sadier.

Normally I tend to skip right over just about everything labeled with "Electronica", but after seeing it listed in B-Music's "A-Z Essentials", I had to give it a shot. Not to mention that the endorsement was from Andy Votel himself:

"Angelic vocals float over honey-coated basslines, and aero-light drumbeats punctuate digital distortion and musique-concrete tape loops. This is how Birmingham's Broadcast create some of the most painfully authentic 60's psychedelia this side of the millennium while still turning out some of the most melodic, contemporary pop music of our time. Imagine a young Ennio Morricone conducting the Radiophonic Workshop at Andy Warhol's 'Exploding Plastic Inevitable'."

Favorite Tracks: Pendulum, Man Is Not A Bird
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Various Artists - Yellow Pills: Prefille (Numero Group,2004)

Various Artists - Yellow Pills: Prefill
Numero Group,2004

LAME -V2 (vbr)
Includes: Box art, front cover

I'll just get this out of the way: If you're not familiar with the work that the folks at Numero Group have been doing over the past few years, you need to wake up.

Recently I've been listening to a lot of the new John Peel compilation "Perfect Unpop: Peel Show Hits and Long-Lost Lo-Fi Favourites Vol.1 - 1976-1980" and realized that man do I love some well done pop from that era. I don't know nearly enough about the genre, but I do know that one of the first compilations I heard that really exposed the more "underground" style of this music to me personally was Yellow Pills: Prefill. And well, I figured that there'd be no better way to share my love for that album than to share it here.

Numero has dedicated themselves to bringing forth forgotten gems of all varieties out into the limelight where it belongs. Whether it be solo acoustic guitar work, funk, country or in this case power pop - they have proven to be some very fine purveyors of lost music that *deserves* recognition.

Hitting you head on with full force from the get go, there's "Green Hearts" by Luxury. Track two doesn't let up, hell if anything its even more spastic and fun, with "I Need That Record" from The Tweeds. Fast forward a bit to "You Need Pop" by The Speedies. Again, excellent stuff. Rather than basically say the same thing over and over for all 30+ tracks, I'll just say that there's not a soft spot on this compilation, and if you ask me that's really something considering this is a 2 disc set.

The original Yellow Pills series started being released in 1993 by Jordan Oaks (a few years after he started a power pop fanzine with the same name) so that he could share his love for raw pop tunes that dominated a lot of airwaves in the late 70s and early 80s that he loved so much. "Prefill" serves as a bit of a precursor of these tunes, one which represents some of the rarest & rowdiest the genre has to offer.

I know summer is almost over already, but I highly suggest that you take this album out with you and just drive around or go swimming with your pals in the hot sun and soak up the (sound)waves.

Favorite Tracks:
Luxury - Green Eyes & One In A Million
The Sponsors - In And Out Of Love
The Bats - Not Easy For Me
Randy Winburn - Sunshine U.S.A.

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The Deviants - The Deviants 3 (Sire, 1969)

The Deviants - Deviants 3
(Sire, 1969)

This 1969 release was The Deviants' third album. Sometimes it's referred to as "The Deviants 3," or "#3," or simply "The Deviants." Three of the four Deviants ditched the lead vocalist to become the "Pink Fairies" shortly after this album. You can read up on The Deviants more here. Some sites say this is inferior to the albums which came before. I don't know about all of that, I just know that there are some thoroughly enjoyable tracks on this one and I think that is some of the damned sweetest cover art I've seen in a long time. I will say that I am left a bit unsatisfied by "Death of a Dream Machine." It's such a solid tune, rolling right along and then it ends in one of those hugely anticlimactic fade-outs. Snag this thing, give it a listen, and make up your own mind about it, friends. 'Til next week, enjoy!

Note: The tags are kind of whacked out on this. I forgot to fix them before I uploaded. If you don't know what I'm talking about then you won't notice or care anyway and if you do know what I'm talking about, then it'll only take you a few seconds to fix them. Feel free to berate me in the comments section. ;)

Preview Tracks (click to play): The People Suite, Broken Biscuits

01. Billy the Monster
02. Broken Biscuits
03. First Line (Seven The Row)
04. The People Suite
05. Rambling B(l)ack Transit Blues
06. Death of a Dream Machine
07. Playtime
08. Black George Does It With His Tongue
09. The Junior Narco Rangers
10. Lets Drink To the People
11. Metamorphis Explosion

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Various Artists - I Stayed Up All Night Listening To Records (Anyway Records,1998)

Various Artists - I Stayed Up All Night Listening To Records
(Anyway Records,1998)

LAME -APS (vbr)
Includes: front cover, nfo, m3u, log

There's something about lo-fi music that I can't help but find really appealing. It can be anything from old gospel to rowdy garage rock but I guess there's something about it that makes it seem more special. I always like these recordings where seemingly average people were able to put out tunes that were really enjoyable without having to be on some huge label with million dollar studios or fancy equipment - and that by doing this it seemed to me to encourage anyone who loves music to just go out and do it.

On "I Stayed Up All Night Listening To Records...", its "90's indie rock" music that's being showcased. Subtitled "A Collection of Field Recordings" it features a large selection of (mostly Ohio native) musicians well known (well, in an underground sense of the word I guess) in the small label Indie circuit of the time, cutting some highly lo-fi/intimate/stripped down indie rock/pop tunes. To be perfectly honest, the reason I got this was because it had a track from Dump on it (for those unfamiliar, the side project of one James McNew of Yo La Tengo fame). I didn't really know any one else on the album at all to any real extent. Many fans of the genre will however recognize (as I do now) names like Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Simon Joyner or Don Howland.

The opener from Jake O'Clay is a bit of an eye opener (in not the most appealing way) but it's still fun, and to me that's what listening to this should be about. The remaining tracks all have a somewhat similar feel to it (mid tempo indie ballads is one description I've read that fits the bill pretty well) with a good combination of solo acoustic tracks as well as straight up indie rock complete with solos and feedback.

A great quote that I think really holds true and can sum up the album is that it "has the feel of a rediscovered favorite mix tape, one that truly merits staying up all night to listen to."

Favorite Tracks:
Bill Fox - Electrocution
Jake Housh - Testament
Dump - It's Not Awright
Smelt Daddy - How Low Can You Go

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Tracklisting found in comments

Devo - Hardcore Devo Vol.1 & 2 (1990, 91)

I'm a week behind in my posts, so this week I'm offering up a 2-fer. I'll have to come back around and throw some text down in the coming days. In the mean time here's the most important bit. Enjoy!

Volume 1 ....
Volume 2 ....