2017 - August 31 - Zerstörte Stelle

Yesterday, as I was playing Einstürzende Neubauten's Fünf Auf Der Nach Oben Offenen Richterskala (Five On The Open-Ended Richter Schale) at work - probably a little bit too loud - Brandy, my partner in counseling crime, asked what the hell I was watching, thinking I was watching a scene or three from Game of Thrones or something similar rather than enjoying some good music while I was working. I have had the album for some time, but not really listened much to it, so I was really excited to discover how great the album really is. However, I'll gladly concede that it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

The opening track is Zerstörte Zelle, which translated to English means disturbed cell. While my German is shaky at best, I can still recognize the emotional impact of this very disturbed performance, and that is what I respond to.

2017 - August 30 - Mr. Crowley

Sometimes the good old days really were that good. Yngwie Malmsteen has often been seen as the man who brought the neoclassical guitar to the forefront, although fans of Ritchie Blackmore will probably argue that he has elements of it as well (although that might have been more courtesy of Jon Lord - but that's another discussion). In picking today's song, I found a bridge between the two in Randy Rhoads. He was the extremely gifted guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne following his ouster from Black Sabbath. Their output together is pretty small - only two studio albums and one live album - but it is powerful. Their collaboration started in 1980, but was cut short in an accident with a small airplane after Rhoads was a passenger during several passes over the tour bus where a wing got clipped on the roof of the bus and the plane careened into a tree in 1982, 35 years ago. This sent Ozzy into a massive downward spiral again (remember, they kicked him out of Black Sabbath), and he is marked by this death to this day.

One of my absolute favorite Ozzy Osbourne solo tracks is from his debut album as a solo artist, Blizzard of Ozz. It is about old British occultist Aleister Crowley, and while there are lots of references to Satan in the lyrics, it is not a satanic song. I sense a loneliness in the song more than anything else. I found a live tv clip from 1981, and by then the band was Tommy Aldridge on drums, Rudy Sarzo (best known from Quiet Riot) on bass, journeyman Don Airey (who know plays in Deep Purple, filling Jon Lord's seat), and Randy Rhoads on guitar (he also got his start in Quiet Riot like Rudy Sarzo). Watching Ozzy perform this piece is about as lonely and tragic as the figure Aleister Crowley - but Randy Rhoads is on fire. And - what I always expected to be tapping in the guitarsolo is actually picked. It is amazing. Please enjoy Mr. Crowley. I wonder what could have been if Randy Rhoads had lived longer.

2017 - August 29 - Sweet Child O' Mine

Ahh - to be 15 again and experience Appetite for Destruction for the first time. It's been 30 years since the album was released, although I think I might have turned 16 by the time I heard it for the first time. Back then, I only appreciated it for the straight forward unabashed rock'n'roll it provided, but this weekend I was reminded of another quality of the album: how incredibly smart and well played it is.

Today's song, Sweet Child O' Mine, showcases the brilliance of the band more than anything - and Slash and Duff McKagan in particular. The intro guitar riff started as a guitar warm-up exercise for Slash - and his signature guitar tone is all over it. Then, the magic first starts happening when Duff comes in with his warm bass tone, playing a nice little run on top of the guitar figure. The bass is all over this song, providing some great lines all the way through, showcasing just how much Duff McKagan has a great ear for melody - it isn't technical as much as it is exquisitely tasteful, and I will take tasteful over technical any day of the week.

THEN... When Axl Rose starts singing "oh oh oh sweet child of mine" you have to ignore his voice and listen to Slash's guitar with the same tone as the intro. It is mixed in the background, but he starts playing around with the guitar figure, inverting it a little to fit the chord structure, yet building tension before it is released by a return to the initial figure once Axl is done with his singing. Beautiful. Stunningly beautiful. And the solo - the slow, searing guitar that burns its way through your eardrums and etches itself onto your soul. That is the solo that was cut from the video. That should be criminal...

The final breakdown takes the song from sweet to menacing and turns things on their head. The song is brilliant, but I was not aware of that when I started listening to it 30 years ago. Back then I just liked it, but listening to it now, I hear so many more layers. It is so clear to me that GnR was a band that loved playing music. They still do, even though it's not the same band anymore. With Slash and Duff back, I am actually interested in seeing them, but not at any price...

There are three autobiographies written by members of GnR: Slash by Slash, My Appetite For Destruction by Steven Adler, the only member of GnR kicked out for doing too much drugs (that should tell you something), and It's So Easy and Other Lies by Duff McKagan. This trio of books are great reading for anyone interested not just in GnR, but in any music from this era - and it provides interesting and differing points of view for the band's history. Duff McKagan's is easily the best written one - he has become a columnist in addition to a musician these days, and it shows - but the other two are great as well.

But for today we are back to those days of 1987, when Sweet Child O' Mine was all over the radio and Guns'n'Roses ruled the world.

2017 - August 28 - Pariah

Steven Wilson has a new album out. So far I like it, but I need some more time with it before I deliver my final judgment. But the first track released still really hits home... Pariah is a duet with Ninet Tayeb, and her voice cracks just perfectly. The new album is To The Bone - and if you like this song, it is not a bad idea to take a listen...

2017 - August 27 - Eternal Rains Will Come

I needed a good excuse to play some Opeth, and hurricane Harvey (now a tropical storm) gave me just what I needed. I hope Opeth is wrong and that everyone in the areas affected by the storm is ok. Opet's 2014 album Pale Communion opened with this gem filled with throwback harmonies that really gives me Blue Oyster Cult vibes... Eternal Rains Will Come.

2017 - August 26 - Oops I Did It Again

Today I just feel like straightforward pop music. And who knew that this Britney Spears "classic" actually hid a nice little song? Richard Thompson did. And his version of Oops I Did It Again makes me smile. And the day after our racist in chief pardoned a genuine piece of human excrement for detaining people based on ethnicity and nothing else I need to smile...

2017 - August 25 - Rosenborgsangen

Yesterday my hometown soccer team beat old Dutch great team Ajax and qualified for Europa League, the second biggest European soccer tournament after Champion's League. While this Ajax team isn't as spectacular as they were in their olden golden days, it is still quite an accomplishment. They beat them in the Netherlands and they beat them at home. And with that in mind, I found Rosenborgsangen from 1988 as they were getting ready for the finals in the Norwegian cup that year. Is it great music? Nope. But it's great fun!

2017 - August 24 - Ten Tons

So I've been a little experimental and Norwegian lately. Today's song is also by a Norwegian band, but this is straight forward rock'n'roll - Ten Tons of it, to be exact. Stage Dolls is a great Norwegian power trio with Torsten Flakne on guitar and vocals, Terje Storli on bass, and Morten Skogseth's on drums. Their debut album, Soldier's Gun, was released in 1985, but it was their third album, simply called Stage Dolls, that reached a broader audience. They released it in the US as well, and the song Love Cries reached #46 on the Billboard singles chart. Not stellar, but enough to raise eyebrows back in Norway.

For me it was exciting that a band based in Trondheim actually did ok for a Norwegian band in the US, but while I did like them, I wasn't liking the Bon Jovi-ey slickness on the Stage Dolls album. I always had a soft spot for a song from their debut album. It was not a single, but I get goosebumps every time I hear the intro riff - and to me it delivers all Ten Tons of rock'n'roll.

2017 - August 23 - Kalhoz

Today's song is from another classic album in Norwegian rock history. De Press was a trio featuring Andrei Dziubek Nebb on bass guitar and vocals, Jørn Christensen on guitar, and Ola Snortheim on drums. Andrei Nebb was a immigrant to Norway from Poland, and, as you will see in the video, was missing two fingers on his left hand, which influenced his bass playing significantly. De Press had massive energy, which was captured fully on Block to Block, their debut album. The lyrics are... well... they are... hard to understand, maybe? There are traces of English and Norwegian there - and then there is Polish. The opening track from Block to Block was Kalhoz, and I found a live version from the Norwegian TV music show ZikkZakk - which really did capture a lot of what was going on in Norway and the world. I have absolutely no clue what they are singing in this song, but I know that I love the energy they exude. (For a complete set of De Press, you can check out Nattrock from April 30, 1981 - Norwegian TV had this idea that all the vandalism and rioting that Norwegian youth did the night leading into May Day, May 1, could be solved if they just played a good rock concert on TV).

2017 - August 22 - Oppned (UpsideDown)

From 1988-1990, no Norwegian band was even remotely close to having the kind of success DumDum Boys had. They won Spellemannsprisen - the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy for rock music for each of their three first albums, and while their debut has the raw excitement of a band ready to rumble and their third album cemented their mass appeal, to me, their second album, Splitter Pine is the most complete of the three. It has most of the energy from their debut while starting to find more mass appeal through the title track without the excessive polish of their third album - and it takes you on a journey that starts with middle eastern weapons and violence (this was 1989, mind you, and given the political climate in Trondheim at the time, I am thinking the song Boom Boom had the Israel/Palestine conflict in mind - but I could be wrong) and ended with a warning about the issues with the ozone layer. In between we have songs about sex, love, and youthful exuberance - and then there is this gem about really transitioning into the adult stages of life ("twenty-something is still kind of young, but oh my god, I feel old"). Oppned is one of the more hidden gems on the album - sandwiched in between Boom Boom and the magnificent title track, but it gives the air the album needs between two very heavy hitters. It is a great song from one of the best, if not the best Norwegian album not made by Motorpsycho.

2017 - August 21 - Odessa

Today I am going to play a song that for me has been mythical. When I worked in Radio Ung in my teens, there was this one album that had this mystical pull on me. It could have been the band name - Babij Jar (I have only recently discovered that they were named after a site in Kiev, Ukraine, where German forces committed a massacre in 1941 - I just thought it sounded mystical at the time). I don't think it was the album title - although The Night Before is a good one - but it could very well be the blue colors of the record cover of my memory (I always thought of an icy landscape - although that's not quite right). Or it could be the audacity of a Norwegian band recording a song that took up the entirety of side B, called Odessa after the Soviet city and mainly was built around one chord... Odds are it's all of the above.

I don't own The Night Before - or any other music by Babij Jar. But I want to. There is a lot of great Norwegian music from the mid 80s that is hard to get - especially in the states. But listening back to this song, it provides a clue to my early interest in droning music - music that my mom would call monotonous and urge me to turn off. I still remember the haunting line - "I'm gonna get back to Odessa soon..." I love this song from 1985 and a largely forgotten Norwegian band - but I invite you all to come back to Odessa with Babij Jar - I will surely be going!

2017 - August 20 - John The Revelator

On cooking shows, they often talk about using an ingredient two ways or three ways. The idea is to showcase several different qualities of that ingredient. The same thing happens in music, when different people interpret a song. Today's song goes back quite a while. Blind Willie Johnson recorded the first version I found - in 1930. Then Son House recorded it in 1965, Depeche Mode wrote a new song - a remodel where the framework still is present - for their album Playing The Angel, and Gov't Mule included it on The Deepest End featuring Dirty Dozen Brass Band - and that's where I noticed it. It's fun tracing the roots and hearing the development...

The song is Gospel blues and uses call and response. Please enjoy John The Revelator four ways...

First, Blind Willie Johnson

Second: Son House

Third: Depeche Mode

And finally, my favorite: Gov't Mule

2017 - August 19 - Another One Bites The Dust

Today's song is dedicated to Steve Bannon. Good riddance.

2017 - August 18 - In Germany Before The War

Sometimes I have musical moments that defy description. I recently won a gift card for Amazon.com, and I decided to purchase some music by Randy Newman - because I didn't have any of his music before. I decided to go with the 3 cd box set The Randy Newman Songbook, where it is just him and his piano doing selections from his long career. It had some of the songs I already knew I loved, such as The Great Nations Of Europe, Short People, and You've Got A Friend In Me. Then there was one title that looked really interesting (well, there were more, but... this one really stood out), and that was In Germany Before The War. And then I played it. And it is so unsettling. His use of melody and contrast and chords... I really have no words. Just listen.

2017 - August 17 - All You Need Is Love

On a day marred by another terrorist attack and an unhinged tweet by our "president," I choose to look at hate again. I was very moved by the responses of Heather  Heyer's family following her death in the terrorist attack in Charlottesville last Saturday. They refused to give into the easy way out. They did not choose hatred. They chose love. Not love for the attacker, but for everything Heather Heyer stood for. Love for their fellow human beings. And the four wise men from Liverpool (well, technically I think this is a Lennon composition) showed us the way 50 years ago. All You Need Is Love. Indeed. And before you write it off as hippie bullshit, just give it a try. It might be easier to hate, but it is always better to love.

2017 - August 16 - Noen Å Hate

Some posts are more difficult to write than others. This is one of them.

In my College Success course, some of the things we talk about include diversity and conflict resolution, and I often show a picture of the pyramid of hate:

Whenever I have shown it, I have referenced Germany 1933-1945, because it has been a textbook case of how this can happen - how we get to genocide if we don't stop to think. It all starts with bias - stereotypes, jokes, and insensitive remarks. This bias is used to justify individual acts of prejudice, such as bullying, name-calling, and dehumanization, which in turn leads to discrimination. Once you are at that level, the step to violence isn't that big, and neither is the next step towards genocide.

But this all boils down to what I like to refer to as The Other. The Other isn't like you. He may have a different sexual orientation. She may have a different skin color. He may have a different religion. She may be of a different socioeconomic status. Whatever characteristic it is, The Other is different. Different from you and me. And once you start identifying The Other, it is easier to identify who you are as well, because at least you aren't The Other. Because that would be bad. Really bad. Because we hate The Other.

That's a big word. Hate. But man, is it a motivator. A driving force. But nothing unites us more than a shared enemy, and we do love to hate our enemies. I still remember coming into the locker room getting ready for swimming lessons with my oldest daughter, overhearing a conversation between two young guys, barely out of high school, talking about how they couldn't wait to get to Iraq to kill some "towelheads." And that's what happen when you hate so much - you dehumanize. Because a "towelhead" is not a human being. That is just a target. Someone to hate. This was in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and a lot of people really hated then. And people still really hate.

It is so easy to give in to hatred. It is easy to start thinking about people as less than - and eventually as less than human. And these days I am worried because that is what I see. I see value of human life that is in decline. Because that is the only way I can make sense of a man taking out his gun and shoot and kill a recent high school graduate after being cut off. But I also see hatred and dehumanization. I see it in every terrorist attack. Including the one last weekend where a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of protesters. And all of this scares me.

And then I remembered a song to go along with this feeling.


In 1990, Norwegian band Raga Rockers released the album Rock'N'Roll Party, an album I never really cared that much for. However, there was one song that really hit a nerve, and it is becoming more and more relevant again. The song is Noen Å Hate - or Someone To Hate. The lyrics are as follows (my loose translation):

That guy is nothing like you
Hurry up and get him
It's just as good as sex
To mess up a poor sucker

Isn't it lovely to have someone to hate
Doesn't it feel good to have someone to hate
Isn't it awesome to smash their face in
Isn't it lovely to have someone to hate

Hear the sound of necks breaking
Hear the sound of flesh cracking
Just follow the pointing finger
Over to where the grown-ups play

Chorus

Verse 1

Chorus

I believe that this song really encapsulates the power of hatred - and of the dehumanization that often follows. And the melody hits almost as hard as the words...

2017 - August 15 - Sing Monica

I think it's time to lighten the mood a little bit. Today's song is pretty unadulterated pop from jam-band Phish. It is not their typical fare - this song is short, sweet, and very singalongy. Phish' 2014 album Fuego was an album I really enjoyed - one of the few studio albums that seemed pretty solid all the way through. It was their second album of their third era (following their second hiatus), coming 5 years after Joy - and it would take another 3 years before the let-down of Big Boat was released. But Fuego was a joyous album, and Sing Monica was in many ways the pop cornerstone.

2017 - August 14 - Stranger Than Kindness

I have been thinking about playing some Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for a while now, but not been sure what song to play. Then I decided to play a little bit from Live From KCRW, a live album from 2013. KCRW is an LA radio station that is responsible for the show Morning Becomes Eclectic, which was the basis for the Rare On Air series that I have touched on before.

The song Stranger Than Kindness has been one of my favorite Nick Cave songs in terms of mood - and that really says a lot. However, I never thought it was fully realized on the studio version from Your Funeral... My Trial, the 1986 album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - there was something about the sound that didn't quite work for me. Well, it really works in this live version. Barry Adamson is the only member left from the 1986 incarnation of the Bad Seeds, but he has moved from bass to organ. Jim Sclavunos (drums) and Martin P Casey (bass) are the driving rhythm section, but it is Warren Ellis' crisp guitar that really provides the vehicle for Nick Cave's words, sung better than on the original.

2017 - August 13 - Nazi Punks Fuck Off

When the president fails to speak, I will. And, in a song from 1981 that unfortunately still is relevant today. When I want to play something political, Dead Kennedys is one of my giro bands, and with this song from the EP In God We Trust, Inc, I feel I am hitting the mark. With all my heart, I mean this most sincerely: Nazi Punks Fuck Off.

2017 - August 12 - The Eve Of Destruction

They say the past is prologue - or that history repeats itself... I hope it isn't true, but Barry McGuire's hit from 1965 seems more relevant than it has in a long time. Written by PF Sloan in 1964 and originally recorded by The Turtles, Eve Of Destruction didn't become a hit until Barry McGuire released it as a single in 1965. It should be played again these days - as a reminder...

2017 - August 11 - Detroit Rock City

I discovered Alex Skolnick through the thrash outfit Testament. I purchased the album The Legacy on tape in 1986, when it first was released. A couple of years later I was so excited about finding their second album, The New Order, on a band trip to Austria (or was this the one to Germany?) that I left the rest of my money on the record store counter... Luckily, our band director spoke decent German and the cashier had kept the money, so I was able to get it back - it was all the money I had left...

Just a couple of years ago, I found Alex Skolnick through his jazz trio, where he plays jazz versions of classic rock and heavy metal songs, and today I have picked the opener from the trio's debut album, Goodbye To Romance: Standards For A New Generation from 2002. You might recognize this from the Kiss album Destroyer, where it also was the opener. Please enjoy Detroit Rock City getting the jazz treatment...

And here in a live version.

2017 - August 10 - The Ocean In Her Eye

It's time for a Motorpsycho fix again. They just released the music to the play Begynnelser (Beginnings), and on September 8 they release the new double album, The Tower, which is the first with new drummer Tomas Järmyr. This time, the time machine takes us back to 1998 and the album Trust Us. Trust Us was theit capstone album of the 90s, finishing a run of albums most other bands would kill to accomplish. From 1993-1998, they released sheer greatness. Demon Box. Timothy's Monster. Blissard. Angels And Daemons At Play. And then Trust Us.

Trust Us was the third double album of the five - although even Angels And Daemons At Play was released as a triple CD with 3 EPs, so an argument could be made that there really was 4 double albums in this golden collection. The song I have selected today is a long song, and one that has some droning qualities. It swirls in before it really carries you away, floating along, until it swirls out again. Just sit back and enjoy The Ocean In Her Eye.

2017 - August 9 - Ghost On The Canvas

I'll gladly confess that I didn't know much about Glen Campbell. Of course, I had heard Rhinestone Cowboy before, but that was about it for me. Then Ghost On The Canvas was released in 2011, just around the time he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's - or at least when it became publicly known. I was curious, and I believe the digital album was on sale at Amazon.com, so I picked it up. I heard the title track, and I fell in love with what I heard.

Glen Campbell died yesterday, and while others may play Rhinestone Cowboy or Wichita Lineman, I choose Ghost On The Canvas to celebrate the artist Glen Campbell, who didn't stop creating in the face of Alzheimer's.

2017 - August 8 - Electric Worry

I first heard about the band Clutch watching the Food Network. There was a great show called Ace of Cakes, featuring very off-beat baker Duff Goldman and his bakery, Charm City Cakes, that ran from 2006-2011 featuring spectacular cakes. The office manager, Mary Alice Fallon-Yeskey, had a brother who sang in a band. That happened to be Neil Fallon, the singer of Clutch. They made an appearance on one episode, but it wasn't enough to get me sold.

A couple of years later, I was properly introduced to them by Heather, who worked in the Student Success Center for a while. And I got sold on their grooves pretty quickly. They are anchored by rock solid Jean-Paul Gaster on drums and Dan Maines on bass, who lay down a solid groove behind Tim Sult on lead guitar and Neil Fallon on rhythm Guitar and vocals. It's hard for me to classify their genre, and I really don't care all that much. I just know a good groove when I hear one, and Clutch provides them in spades... Today's song is from the 2007 album From Beale Street To Oblivion, and it also features Mick Schauer on organ. Electric Worry is based on Fred's Worried LIfe Blues by Mississippi Fred McDowell, and this groove better get your foot tapping!

2017 - August 7 - Heksedans

Today's singer can be an acquired taste, just like the city he is from... Jan Eggum is from Bergen, which in many ways is Trondheim's rival city in Norway - and this holds particularly true for football (or soccer in American English). Bergen has Brann (fire), while Trondheim has the vastly superior Rosenberg, Norways football powerhouse the past 30 years or so. But Jan Eggum is something else, even for Bergen (which happens to be a great city - I lived there for about three years and loved it there). He is often melancholic - but on today's track, 40 year old Heksedans (witches' dance), he jazzes it up a little. I love this song and hope you will too!

2017 - August 6 - Exit Music (For A Film)

This year it is 20 years since Radiohead released their masterpiece OK Computer, and to commemorate it, they released the ONNOTOK version of it with added bonus tracks. It adds up to a second disc of solid material; however I find myself listening to the albun's original material is more than enough for me, so today's song is one of my absolute favorites: Exit Music (For A Film) - and it is a dramatic tour- de-force....

2017 - August 5 - Up The Beach

Last night I went to the movies with Chris - one of my favorite things to do... the movie - The Dark Tower - was ok, but what triggered something musically for me was the trailer for the Flatliners remake (I am not sure why they want to remake it - the original was pretty good - but remakes, reboots, and sequels seem to be just about the only thing made these days (although Dunkirk was a spectacular exception to this). However, as soon as the baselines came out of the speakers, I recognized a Jane's Addiction song from the Nothing's Shocking album from 1988, but didn't remember which song. Coming home, I had to find it - and it was the album opener, Up The Beach.

Nothing's Shocking was the second Jane's Addiction album, but the first studio recording they released. The band is incredibly tight, and the foundation is laid with the drums of Stephen Perkins and the bass of Eric Avery. In my eyes, what really set Jane's Addiction apart from other alternative rock bands was Eric Avery's bass, which insists on being frond and center, driving many of the riffs for Dave Navarro to build a wall of guitar over. How Perry Farrell finds room for his voice atop all of this is still a mystery to me - but he does. Up The Beach is right up there, next to Mountain Song, as one of the quintessential Jane's Addiction songs, starting out with a simple but driving bass riff. Eric Avery is no longer part of the band, but he absolutely played a huge part in making them who they are!

2017- August 4 - Picture That

So I am not the only one upset with the used car salesman in the dump formerly known as the White House (I am using Trump's words himself here describing his public housing). Roger Waters was always the more political member in Pink Floyd, and he has taken that with him into his solo career. His last solo outing, Amused To Death was based partly on Noam Chomsky - and this time, on his great new album Is This The Life We Really Want?, his politics are worn completely on his sleeve - and nowhere is this clearer than on the song Picture That. All I have to say is sit back and enjoy this political tirade from a Roger Waters who showcases that rock still has a little bit of rebellion in it way past 70...

2017 - August 3 - Kill The Poor

Today's song is the slogan for the failed Republican healthcare plan (maybe just the Republican Party in general)...

2017 - August 2 - Fred (Peace)

Today's song was recorded August 2, 1985, 32 years ago today. The band was Imperiet, and the venue was Västerås Folkpark in Sweden. Imperiet was a spectacular band that emerged from punk rock to become darlings of alternative Swedish rock in the mid 80s. The song I have chosen for today is Fred (or Peace in English), which asks the question if we really want peace, as peace gives complacency, which in turn gives room for exploitation. A very simplified interpretation here, but the song was written by Michael Wiehe, who is a well-known Swedish radical singer (read: socialist) who wrote this song for the Hoola Bandoola Band. But - the song is good - and this version is great...

2017 - August 1 - Feel Good Hit Of The Summer

Today's song is about all the things I have avoided throughout my life that supposedly have some desired effects for quite a few people. Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, Marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol. Cocaine. Those are the lyrics to today's song - and I find them funny given that Josh Homme in Queens Of The Stone Age named the song Feel Good Hit Of The Summer. This is a great summer song!