This week’s edition of “Pump Up The Jam” features Allie X, Ty Segall, and more.
Although many might associate composer Ennio Morricone with Spaghetti Westerns, he has many more tricks up his accomplished – that’s more than 520 IMDB credits – sleeves. A new compilation from Rustblade Records – a sequel to the Paura collection from earlier this year – reveals “the darker experimental” side of his career, including The Legend of 1900 (Giuseppe Tornatore’s film starring Tim Roth), Barbablù (a 1972 film version of Bluebeard starring Richard Burton), A Pure Formality (another Tornatore film with Gerard Depardieu and Roman Polanski), Revolver (a.k.a. Blood in the Streets, which features Oliver Reed and Fabio Testi), and A Place in the Country (the 1968 Franco Nero/Vanessa Redgrave film about nightmares and sexual sadism), among others. Here’s a trailer for the album.
Paura Volume 2 will be available in a limited edition transparent vinyl release of 499 copies in September and you can pre-order your copy at the Rustblade Records website.
Switching gears entirely, there is a new Allie X single! The Canadian-born, L.A.-based pop queen released an incredible EP last year and now she’s planning to release CollXtion II Unsolved, described as “a collaboration between artist and fan in which fans’ input helps shape the final version.” Check out “All The Rage.”
No one could accuse me of only liking one kind of music and that’s why I’m telling you about the new album from Big Business, whom you might be familiar with as members of the Melvins as well as fine musicians in their own right. Released on July 8, Command Your Weather is available to listen to on Spotify, but if you don’t have Spotify, here are a couple of tracks on Soundcloud: “Father’s Day” and “Regulars.”
Big Business tour dates:
July 23: The Lowbrow Palace; El Paso, TX
July 24: The Rebel Lounge; Phoenix, AZ
July 25: The Casbah; San Diego, CA
July 28: Velvet Jones; Santa Barbara, CA
July 29: Bootleg Theater; Los Angeles, CA
It’s been like, six months without a new Ty Segall release and we’re all dying from withdrawal. Thankfully, there’s a new animated video for “Californian Hills,” which is of course yet another amazing tune from Emotional Mugger. Do not expect this video to make any sense or have anything to do with the song lyrics; it’s more fun that way.
After that insanity, you might need to come down, and I can think of no better way than with this curious tune from the wonderfully named Tomorrow The Rain Will Fall Upwards, “… And I Tried So Hard.” It might seem like weird noodling at first, but I guarantee you’ll be hooked on this track in no time at all.
Their album Wreck His Days will be released on August 21 from Blackest Ever Black.
This paragraph from a press release about Aussie post-punk band The Brotherhood of Lizards should get your attention:
“Towards the end of 1989, Deltic label head Andy McQueen, who knew [Cleaners From Venus’s Martin] Newell’s general aversion to touring, asked if there was any possibility that [The Brotherhood of Lizards] might go on a promotional tour. Newell replied, ‘Only by bicycle.’ Though there was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line, soon after, whilst studying a map of England and its regional radio stations, it struck Newell that a bicycle tour might be a real possibility. Thus, amazingly, in early October, Newell and [bandmate] Nelson set off on bicycles, instruments on backs, tiny amps in front carriers, for a 600-mile busking tour of the entire southern half of England. The media became unexpectedly interested. More through sheer eccentricity than eco-activism, at the turn of a turbulent decade, the Brotherhood of Lizards had unwittingly hitched a ride on a brand new zeitgeist. They were called ‘The First Eco Rock Band’ and the tour became the subject of a number of news items, as well as a documentary that is, alas, now lost.”
On August 19, Captured Tracks is reissuing the complete works of the band on CD and LP. The two sample songs are impressive, with that weird, uncomfortable yet thrilling vibe that’s part post-punk and part post-pop.
Pre order the 21-song album here; the release also includes many bonus tracks.
Duran Duran is touring for their most recent album Paper Gods with opening act Chic, and although Nile Rodgers is the only original member of the band (RIP Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson), feedback about their performances have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. This week’s #FlashbackFriday is the extended mix of the wonderful 1979 track from Chic, “I Want Your Love.”
