Post-Punk Series Slated for September!

Just so you know where I'm coming from, someone posted the above video on a GBV forum that I frequent, and it has sent me on a three week Post-Punk bender. Not kidding, I've been obsessed. I'd never heard nor even heard of Black Randy. Here I thought I had listened to all the great bands from the Post-Punk era. How Wrong I was! Seriously, there were sooooo many great bands, some of them put out a single or an album or two then, sadly, vanished. Others went on to fame and fortune in a Post-MTV world. Still others, had formidable careers, but garnered little more than cult status. Whatever, there was lots of great music to be had during those heady days just after the Sex Pistols turned the world on its head.

Long story short, I've scoured my collection for nuggets to share here at Burn and Shine. I've also tracked down a few things that I had never heard (like the spectacular reissue of the Lines early singles which came out on Acute a couple years ago: Memory Span. As per usual, the blogosphere was a tremendous help in finding stuff that I've only got on vinyl or stuff that has never seen digital reissue.

Just as in my Power Pop series, this is by no means to be taken as a definitive collection of Post-Punk. I always try to balance my compilations by using a few tracks that aren't quite as well known, and put them along side tracks that are. I mean, if you haven't got a copy of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" or "Damaged Goods" then by all means track those down and listen to them before downloading my comps. Along those lines, I heartily recommend (if you have any interest in the genre at all), picking up a copy of Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again: POSTPUNK 1978-1984 (pictured below). I've been rereading it over the last few days, and my compilation works as a nice companion (especially the first half of the book).



So what is Post-Punk? You may be asking yourself, well let me direct you to the Wikipedia definition, which is pretty good: Post-punk. It can be a bit murky, and I think everyone has their own general idea of what bands get the tag. Does R.E.M.? How 'bout Duran Duran? Nirvana? Good cases could be made for all of those, yet they didn't make my compilation. For me it's a gut feeling. You'll see soon enough who made my comps, which by the way, I've separated into five volumes: Women, Gloom, Swing, Pop, and Noise. You might be surprised to find out who I've put where, but hopefully the playlists make some sort of sonic sense.

There are Five Wednesdays in September, and I will post my comps on each of those (I promise). I may not have the energy to do track by track commentary, but I'll share some of my thoughts on each compilation. For now, I'll leave you with the cover art, which I made in about 13 minutes in true, DIY fashion:




See y'all on Wednesday!

Veronica Falls

I'm a sucker for jangly guitars and boy/girl vocals. So when I stumbled upon the above video, it made me smile. Didn't know anything about this London Quartet, but it was obvious that they love the old C-86 Bands as much as I do. Apparently, they have yet to release a full length, but they have released one 7" single which pairs the title track (see video above), "Found Love in a Graveyard", with a very nice cover of Roky Erickson's "Starry Eyes". Unfortunately, the 7" is already OOP, so I missed out on snagging a hard copy. I did find downloads for both tracks via this blog: Transparent (thank you very much!).

Another 7" titled "Beachy Head" is supposedly on the way from Captured Tracks, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, you can download the two tracks from the new 7" here: Guerolito Music. Hopefully there's an album on the horizon!

Free Robyn Hitchcock Single!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Robyn Hitchcock? Probably not often enough. He is currently giving away a new single by his new project called The Hungry Moment @ RobynHitchock.com, but only for one week (starting today). The new band is comprised of Robyn on vocals and guitar, Abigail Washburn (vocal & banjo) Rayna Gellerd (vocal & fiddle) and he calls it a "psyche and western group". You can get the free download here: The Hungry Moment: Thank You b/w Time Girl & Violet Rain. I'll also leave you with a live version of my favorite song off the new RH & V3 record, Propellor Time:

No Las Vegas But How 'Bout GBV in Hotlanta?-- Who's with me?

Sadly, I'm not going to be able to go to Las Vegas for Matador's 21st B-day Shindig. Those of you who do, drink a beer or two for me. I have, however, gone ahead and purchased tickets for the Saturday, October 23 show (just two days before my own birthday!) at Buckethead Theatre in Atlanta. What I did not realize until I purchased these tickets is that Sweet Apple is opening that show!!! If you don't know, Sweet Apple is Jon Petkovic and Tim Parnin (of Cobra Verde), Dave Sweetapple (Witch), and J mother-effing Mascis! Seriously, their new album Love & Desperation has been in constant rotation since I got a copy back in April. Here's the lead single:




Yes, this should be a pretty great night for Rock & Roll.

Oh and just in case you haven't seen the dates for the GBV Reunion tour, here you go:

9/30 - East Side Drive, Austin, TX (On Sale 7/16 at 12pm) *
10/3 - Pearl Theatre @ Palms Hotel, Las Vegas NV SOLD OUT Matador at Twenty-One Las Vegas
10/4 - Wiltern, Los Angeles CA (On Sale TBA) *
10/5 - Warfield, San Francisco CA (Pre-sale FRI 7/23 10am-10pm password "bee thousand", Regular On Sale SAT 7/25 at 10am) *
10/7 - Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR (On Sale 7/20 at 10am) *
10/9 - Showbox So Do, Seattle WA (On Sale 7/26 at 10am) *
10/12 - First Avenue, Minneapolis MN (On Sale 7/16 at 12pm) *
10/13 - The Vic, Chicago IL (On Sale 7/24 at 10am) *
10/15 - Southgate House, Newport KY (Cincinnati) (On Sale 7/16 at 10am)
10/16 - Outlands Live, Columbus OH (On Sale 7/15)
10/21 - 9:30 Club, Washington D.C. (On Sale 7/17 at 10am) =
10/22 - Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC (On Sale 7/16 at 10am) =
10/23 - Buckhead Theater, Atlanta GA (On Sale 7/24 at 10am) =
11/4 - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (On NBC at 12:35/11:45C)
11/5 - Paradise, Boston MA (On Sale 7/17 at 12pm) +
11/6 - Trocadero, Philadelphia PA (On Sale 7/17 at 12pm) +
11/7 - Terminal 5, NYC (On Sale 7/23 at 12pm) +
* with Times New Viking
= with Sweet Apple
+ with Blitzen Trapper

Check Out the New Header!

I know, right? I've technically been on blogger for three years now-- though I didn't actually really start blogging here till Halloween '08-- and I'm just now getting around to fancy-ing up this place. Okay, not really but I really love my new header! Big thanks to Sherri from The Claw, who I just recently figured out went to high school with me, for doing such a nice job. She also did the header for my Hixson High School Tennis Blog, so you can mosey on over there to check out another sample of her handy work. If you need any graphic design work, I suggest you drop her an email (headersforhire@hotmail.com). I'm telling you, she is lightning fast!

While I'm here, have you all had a chance to check out the documentary You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977-1984 that is posted over at Bitchfork TV? Here's the trailer:



It really is fantastic, and you can watch the whole thing for free courtesy of P4KTV here: You Weren't There! It says it will only be available for one week, and I'm not sure how long it has been posted, so don't delay!

My Little Girl Is Turning Two!

Oh man, it seems I'm always making excuses. Totally missed posting a comp in July, and my Pollardfest didn't pan out quite the way I wanted it to. Okay, so here's the deal: I'm putting Bob on the back burner, and I'm slotting disc two in the series for next June. The first one is still selling like hot cakes, and I don't want to slow the momentum by posting another.

As you've probably gathered from the headline, I'm shifting gears to celebrate Maria Justine's second birthday! It is sort of a cop out, but not really. I promised this about a year ago in this post: My Little Girl is Turning One!

That's right, we're having a guest-compilation this month from my good friend Laura. Just to reiterate, she sent us this comp shortly after MJ's birth, and we've listened to it dozens of times. A few quick thoughts:

There are no less than three songs on here that would make my all-time top 100. Those being, "American Girl" (a song that has lost none of its luster even though it is in constant rotation on Classic Rock Radio), "Girl U Want" (seriously, how many songs in the history of recorded music are better than this?), "The Girl Can't Help It" (LR's vocals on this continue to floor me every time I hear this). There were also three songs on here I had never heard. "Party Girl" (caused me to track down the one and only album by the Prissteens), "Girl's Attractive" (I was astonished to find out this was recorded in 2005, as it sounds like 1983 to me-- fantastic!), "Punk Girl" (I'm a fan of all things Billy Childish, but somehow managed to miss this little gem). Also, not sure if I had ever heard the Muff's version of Paul Collins' "Rock & Roll Girl" [see video above], but it is a fine rendition of another song which would crack my personal Hot 100. Thanks again LCP, and Happy Birthday MJ!

Happy Listening!

Oh, Girl: Welcome MJ!

01. The Replacements, “Birthday Girl”
02. Alex Chilton, “New Girl in School”
03. Tom Petty, “American Girl”
04. Hüsker Dü, “Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill”
05. Iggy Pop, “Girs”
06. Alex Chilton, “Never Found a Girl”
07. The Prissteens, “Party Girl”
08. The Muffs, “Rock & Roll Girl”
09. Diamond Nights, “Girl’s Attractive”
10. Frank Zappa, “Valley Girl”
11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Mystery Girl”
12. Devo, “Girl U Want”
13. Heavenly, “P.U.N.K. Girl”
14. The White Stripes, “Fell In Love With a Girl”
15. Kings of Leon, “Taper Jean Girl”
16. The Knack, “Good Girls Don’t”
17. Dwight Twilley Band, “Girls”
18. The Beatles, “Girl”
19. Thee Headcoatees, “Punk Girl”
20. Little Richard, “The Girl Can’t Help It”
21. The Long Winters, “New Girl”
22. The Amps, “She’s a Girl”
23. Tom Petty, “Here Comes My Girl”

Total Time: 1:11:49

Download it here: Oh, Girl: Welcome MJ!