R&R Time

"Chewing out a rhythm on my bubble gum,

The sun is out and I want some..."

That´s right pop kids, the summertime blues ends here. It´s about time for some Rest & Recreation, and I aim to be king of the surf for a while. So we´ll be heading south soon, for even better climes than we´ve got here. Got over 8000 songs with me on the iPod, all killer no filler, so the Rock & Roll bit is well taken care of, too. Hope to be back all inspired in a couple of weeks. Hasta luego!

Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues MP3

Trashmen - King Of The Surf MP3

Ramones - Rockaway Beach MP3

Thieves Of Fire

Yes, and here we go again. Another summer tenpack, this time featuring nothing but British postpunk from the late seventies and early eighties. Arguably one of the most interesting periods in the history of pop music, as creativity was running rampant and boundaries were few.

Fall head honcho Mark E. Smith tells it like it is, with a nod to the summer of love:

"Stuck peanuts in my hair, and all the leaves are brown...

I'll be part of the music scene, envy of the choosy set, part of the music scare..."

Instant hits all of them, albeit in a parallel - and better - world. If you like what you hear and haven´t read it yet, head over to your local bookshoppe and pick up Rip It Up And Start Again by Simon Reynolds, a most inspiring standardwork on the postpunk genre.

The Fall - Music Scene MP3

Magazine - Back To Nature MP3

Cabaret Voltaire - Do The Mussolini (Headkick) MP3

Slits - Instant Hit MP3

The Pop Group - Thief Of Fire MP3

A Certain Ratio - Choir MP3

Young Marble Giants - Wurlitzer Jukebox MP3

Gang Of Four - Armalite Rifle MP3

Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business MP3

Basement 5 - Heavy Traffic MP3

Absent Slide

Think of Duane Allman and the first thing that comes to mind is slide guitar, right? Probably followed by motorcycle crash and huge sideburns, but that´s beside the point here. Funny thing is, that famous slide is absent on the only song that ole Skydog ever wrote himself: Little Martha. An acoustic ode to an extramarital girlfriend who was actually called Dixie, it´s a deceivingly simple instrumental. And a timeless miniature.

Duane Allman - Little Martha MP3

Garageland Dreams

In yet another summer tenpack episode, we´ll be going all out on a wild sixties garage punk and psychedelica trip. Better get ready for an overload of razor sharp organ riffs, down and dirty fuzz guitars, snotty vocals, over the top psychedelic madness & teenage angst plus a whole lot of garage attitude. Hey, there´s so much amazing stuff in this vein out there that I could easily fill twenty sixpacks for you. And maybe I just will... someday.

All this amazing stuff stems from albums and sometimes even series of albums with illustrious names like Pebbles, Boulders, Back From The Grave, Highs In The Mid Sixties, Ear Piercing Punk, Hang It Out To Dry and Acid Dreams. Do yourselves a favour and hunt these down if you like the ten more or less obscure garage bands from sixties garageland below. Be sure to have some peanut butter ready, watch out for that green slime, and say hi to Gloria Melvin for me.

The Renegades- Thirteen Women MP3

White Light - William MP3

Kommotions - Little Black Egg MP3

The Ju-Ju´s - You Treat Me Bad MP3

Daybreakers - Psychedelic Siren MP3

The Belles - Melvin MP3

The Outlaws - Don´t Tread On Me MP3

Green Slime - Green Slime MP3

Avengers - Be A Caveman MP3

The One Way Streets - We All Love Peanut Butter MP3

Johnny Foreigner

Read in the paper today that the country of Latvia is totally sick of having its capital Riga invaded by young British tourists on a cheap and boozy rampage. Which made me think of comedian - and one time Factory Records cohort - John Dowie´s rather weird little ditty from ´77. Uz veselibu!

John Dowie - British Tourist MP3

Upper Air

This summer tenpack edition is all about cool new music I recently stumbled upon. Some I found on other music blogs, some I actually bought. In record stores. Ain´t that something this day and age, pop kids.

Most of these tracks were released over the last couple of weeks, while others will come out very soon. A few acts featured here are rather well known, while others have either been working under the radar a bit or are brand new hopefuls, waiting for a bit of fame (what´s my name) to come their way. Please check ´em all out and if you like what you hear, buy their albums at your local record store. If it´s still in business, that is.

Son Volt - Roll On MP3

Simon Joyner - The Drunken Boat MP3

Roadside Graves - Far And Wide MP3

Bingo Trappers - Stranded On A Short Break MP3

Spiral Stairs - Maltese T MP3

Jack Oblivian - Against The Wall MP3

Bowerbirds - Beneath Your Tree MP3

Greg Weeks - Lay Low MP3

Frankel - Anonimity Is The New Fame MP3

Fruit Bats - The Ruminant Band MP3