Freekbass
Freekbass by Michael Weintrob
Hey Shredder (Bass): Freekbass
7 questions for the low end
Poundings LXXI
Indulging a classic rock jones this week with an assemblage designed to make you feel like you’re tooling down a sunlit highway in an American muscle car, a warm hand on your thigh with comely good times grinning at you from the passenger seat. But first, a dirty blues rumble from our favorite Johnny Otis obscurity…
If you experience playback problems, pop over to the 8tracks mix page and it should play fine.
Baby You’re A Star: Stew & The Negro Problem
new artists to notice
Stew & The Negro Problem
Stew & The Negro Problem
It’s been nearly a decade since the last album by Stew & The Negro Problem, but it’s not as if Stew and long collaborator Heidi Rodewald weren’t busy. The pair created the Off-Broadway/Broadway theatre piece Passing Strange, which was also the subject of a Spike Lee documentary. The Wikipedia entry calls it “a rock musical about a young African American’s artistic journey of self-discovery in Europe, drawing on heavy elements of existentialism, metafictional comedy, and the Künstlerroman” (the entry is worth a hop, skip & jump through the hyperlinks). It’s a work with huge reach, boundless subtleties, and lots of consciously uncomfortable moments, which also applies to Stew & The Negro Problem’s new release, Making It (released January 24 on TNP), an early contender for Best of 2012 lists.
Beginning with a funky fanfare and then quickly dissecting the virtues of stupid little songs versus the clever, broad canvas of theater, Making It delights in peeling back the covers – social, satin and otherwise. Moving with a sophisticated gait somewhere between later period Leonard Cohen and early Steely Dan, the album undresses homegrown masquerades, exposing scars and tear stained faces to the light with a deft flick. Raunchy, laugh out loud funny, and daringly honest, the song cycle is a lovely mixture of discomforting ideas in comforting settings. A ton of murky psychology swirls inside these revealing passages, but delivered with such gorgeous, yin-yang-ing judo that one only realizes their head is hitting the mat well after the knockout blow has firmly landed.
You Gotta See This: JEFF The Brotherhood
you gotta see this
JEFF The Brotherhood
Bummer
The bros of JEFF The Brotherhood show off their Survivor/Lost skills in this vagabond video directed by Lina Plioplyte. This highlight of last year’s We Are The Champions is what should blast out of car stereos instead of, well, most of the turd storm filling what’s left of radio, a classic single that cuts right to the heart of things with unadorned lines like, “I have been aching for your touch/ I’m bummin’ so much.” JEFF The Brotherhood is currently on tour opening for The Kills, and plays tonight, January 26, in New Orleans (full tour schedule here).
You Gotta See This: Akron/Family
you gotta see this
Akron/Family
Everyone Is Guilty
Don’t stand off in your own little world. Be here in the now. Join us in our run through the wilds of the human condition. This is what Akron/Family cries in ways literal and figurative each time they gather in a music hall. The ultimate rise and fall of their concert experiences hinges on the level of engagement and enthusiasm of everyone in the room, not just the dudes with electrified instruments. This evening at The Blockley in Philadelphi (distilled beautifully by DI Brother In Arms Jake Krolick over at the quite swell Beat Of My Strut) looks like the lads and the gathered mob were symbiotic in the extreme. Aided by members of Sun Ra Arkestra, this January night appears to have loosened up some love, including a nod to the recently passed Etta James, who Akron/Family’s Miles Seaton suggests would like folks to party in her honor. We couldn’t agree more.
Billy Nershi
A fine job of channeling a pissed-off Johnny Cash by The String Cheese Incident’s Billy Nershi in this loving homage to Jim Marshall’s iconic photo of the Man in Black. Thanks to DI super friend Chad Smith for his continued gathering of Birds for us.
Billy Nershi by Chad Smith
Are you interested in giving Dirty Impound the finger? Are you in a band? Well, we wanna see whatcha you got, cowboys (and cowgirls)! Send us your birdie pics and we’ll add them to our archive and make sure folks know you cared enough to raise a middle finger for rock! Send pictures to freebird@dirtyimpound.com
January 23-January 29
In this edition: Scott H. Biram, Cowboy Junkies, Common and Hubble.
what’s tickling our fancy this week…
Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers
New Van Sessions Covers
Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers have once again boarded their trusty tour van, which lacks a radio but never a song, as evidenced by these recent covers by one of modern classic rock’s most charming young bands. You can catch them opening for The Infamous String Dusters this week in Wyoming, Montana and more, and soon on the annual Tour d’Amour with ALO. Find the Gramblers full tour schedule here. Best handling of this Funkadelic nug since The Balancing Act owned it in the 80s. And points for tackling Bobby Darin and Patsy Cline – giants true but you kids are walking in them footprints just fine. And for more colorful details from the road, check out Grambler’s lead guitarist Deren Ney‘s excellent new tour blog over here
