This Week In On Pirate Satellite
by Joshua B. Hoe Been a really fun week.
6 Degrees of Twitteration
It was the first week the blog has been up, and it got started with an amazing surprise….Keith Levene favorited one of my first posts. Mr. Levene was an original member of The Clash and PIL (Two of my fave bands - and The Clash was the inspiration for the name of the blog).
I got to talk about race politics, The Rock and Roll HOF, The Ramones, and send a new playlist out into the world (with some New Order + Clash no less). Met some wonderful people on line and had some great discussions.
First, many years ago, when I was in college (around 1988) my gf made me listen to Sister and Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth and I have been a fan ever since. Still full on love those albums.
I know it doesn’t mean anything in the global scheme of things, but it was a pretty big thrill for Kim Gordon to retweet one of my comments. Kim is pretty much the archetype for everything I think is awesome in music...and the tweet was about Kim and Carrie Brownstein who plays in another band I deeply love (Sleater Kinney).
I also got a retweet from Afghan Whigs, one of the most open and honest bands (even when they were revealing hard things about themselves) ever.
This whole 6 degrees thing is pretty damn cool.
Stuff I Listened To This Week Part One - Boston History:
One of my earliest connections on Twitter was a guy named Aree from an Atlanta band called Aree and the Pure Heart, he likes a great deal of the same music as me and made some great music recommendations. I checked out his band and liked them, they have an earnestness and openess that is admirable. You should check them out!
One of the bands he recommended to me, that I honestly did not know about (bizarre given the period) was The Real Kids. In particular their 1977 debut self-titled album. I listened and it was really good, my initial feeling was that it had a great deal of:
- Modern Lovers influence
- New York Dolls influence
So, I looked them up...And wow, John Felice was the primary songwriter and he was the next door neighbor (in Mass.) of Jonathan Richman (of The Modern Lovers).
Felice was in the original lineup for The Modern Lovers and had some school conflict (he was like 15 at the time) that prevented him from playing on the first (also self-titled) classic Modern Lovers album.
I guess he also had some lifestyle differences with Richman.
If you are wondering about The Modern Lovers, most people know them for/from one thing...and one thing only...the song Pablo Picasso.
The movie Repo Man (the real Repo Man, the batshit crazy one with Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton, not Repo Men) included the song, but not the original version.
The Modern Lovers wrote the song “Pablo Picasso (Was Never Called An Asshole)” but the cover version in the movie was by a band called Burning Sensations (12 years later) made it much more famous.
I found the Modern Lovers through curiosity...But, I think most people think it is Burning Sensations song?
This is kind of a shame, because The Modern Lovers are pretty much genius.
Anyway, Felice started his own band (The Real Kids) in 1977 and they made a really great self-titled album. You should certainly give it a listen, especially if you like the Dolls and The Modern Lovers.
Stuff I Listened To This Week - Part Two - Vince Staples
Let me get this out of the way first, I love Vince Staples...Summertime 06 is guaranteed to be n my top records of 2015 list...Guaranteed.
Sometime in the last few days, Vince gave an interview where he said that 90’s hip-hop artists were not that great...At first, I kind of was willing to give that a pass...But then I started to think….Here are just a few hip hop classics that came out in the 90’s (I am not going to hyperlink these - if you don't know em, get em):
Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead
De La Soul - Bahloon Mindstate
De La Soul - Stakes is High
Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride 2 the Pharcyde
Pharcyde - Labcabincalifornia
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
And that’s not counting NWA + 2 Pac….and for pure fun...how can you ignore 2 Pac’s original gig:
Digital Undergound - Sex Packets
And Missy Elliot - Supa Dupa Fly came out in the 90’s - her version of “The Rain” by Bonny Raitt opened up whole new vistas for hip-hop and she was a total badass.
And Biggie?
and what about Gang Starr? I mean I could make this list really long...but seriously Vince? I listen to your stuff all the time, I have your EP...There is no way you don’t like those albums….No way.
FYI - if you are wondering why I am talking about hip-hop...This blog was inspired by The Clash who fully embraced black music as part of punk….I consider Punk + Hip-Hop as urban DIY relatives (if not full on family). “On Pirate Satellite” is a lyric from the song “This is Radio Clash” which musically is urban fusion music heavily influenced by street sounds.
In other words, I will be talking about hip-hop and I have loved it since I first heard “The Message.”
No disrespect to Vince, but I am guessing this was about visibility?
Stuff I Listened To This Week Part Three - Recommendations
Hmmm, good stuff this week:
Diat - Positive Energy (Iron Lung Records, 2015)
Really good post-punk vibe here...Impressed, in particular loved the songs Shadenfreude + Hurricane.
Wand - Golem (In The Red Records, 2015)
They have a new album out, but I have not found it easily...I will find it...Anyway, this is a really great album reminds me a bit of Ziggy era Bowie and T-Rex for some reason but a more modern feel too.
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style (Matador Records, 2015)
Really, really interesting and good bit of post-pavement experimentation and good old garage rock here but in a shiny package (with occasional synth).
I can see why Pitchfork suggested they had a bit of the Guided by Voices feel here to (kind of like whatever messiness exists only adds serious joy to the songs). Really enjoyable, have been listening to it all day.
I guess it is a compilation of older tracks...but, really great older tracks (apparently).
Last But Not Least:
Get well soon to Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) - some health problem has forced them to put-off touring...Good luck!
RIP to Flip Saunders - I love basketball, he was a good coach and seemed like a good guy.
RIP to Peter Dougerty of ‘Yo! fame…As Rolling Stone put it:
Peter Dougherty, 'Yo! MTV Raps' co-creator, has died at age 59 http://rol.st/1jRo8mY
I loved the original ‘Yo! - Fab Five Freddy turned me on to so many great acts….and not all from the USA - shout out to MC Solaar!
Until next week!
If you have any new albums you liked this year, or have anything to say about my picks, please feel free to leave a comment!