Book Review: Acid Detroit

Redefining the counterculture as a time of Acid Communism, Acid Detroit: A Psychedelic Story of Motor City Music diverges from most books on the Sixties, which centre on California, to show that Detroit was an unequalled hotbed of radical activism, urban unrest and sonic innovation. Considering Detroit's unique mix of people and cultures and enduring sonic legacies, it covers everything from incendiary garage rock, to European-influenced techno and experimental hip-hop crews, intertwining the artist’s lives and works with the city’s rise and decline, from its establishment as an industrial powerhouse to the high point of Motor City, into its decline and tentative rebirth.

ABC - The Lexicon of Love II

Last week (May 27th) marked the release of The Lexicon of Love II, the ninth studio album from ABC (now consisting of singer/songwriter Martin Fry and orchestrator Anne Dudley). And if the name and album cover design (down to the graphical layout, the use of lyrical poetry beneath the title, etc.) evokes memories of the band's 1982 debut album The Lexicon of Love, then that arrow has not gone wide from the mark.

J.D. Shelburne - live and on CDs

Our final day of our Nashville trip rounded out with a stop at the Tequila Cowboy, a restaurant and bar on Broadway. It was there that we were treated to final hour of an afternoon acoustic set by J.D. Shelburne. He was joined on stage by acoustic cajon player Eric Carby.

Shelburne hails from Taylorsville, Kentucky. This hard-working musician has been playing gigs regularly since he graduated the University of Kentucky in 2007. He has even opened for such big name country acts as Kellie Pickler, Montgomery Gentry and Miranda Lambert.

State Cows - The Second One

Today (May 24th) is the release date of The Second One, the aptly titled second studio album from the Swedish band State Cows. At the core of the group is a duo made up of Daniel Andersson (vocals and guitar) and Stefan Olofsson (keyboards and synth bass). Joining the guys on this record are Peter Olofsson (drums), Mikael Emsing (percussion), Christian Thomsen (backing vocals), Bill Champlin (backing vocals), and Marcuz Granberg (backing vocals). There are also a number of guest musicians, which I will note as they appear through out the album.

Nu Shooz - Kung Pao Kitchen

Do you ever have one of those days when you wanted to just party like it was 1992? Well, now here's your chance.

Last week, the Portland based husband-and-wife team of John Smith and Valerie Day, best known to the music world as Nu Shooz, released their sixth studio album Kung Pao Kitchen. The tracks were pulled from a nearly twenty year stay in the vault of previously unreleased material and re-mastered for the new millennium.

Foster the People - Torches

A trio of guys from Los Angeles, California, formed an indie pop band in 2009. Together, Mark Foster (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Cubbie Fink (bass and backing vocals), and Mark Pontius (percussion) are Foster the People.

After a three song, self-title debut EP in January of 2011, they released their first full length album Torches in May of 2011. The album hit number 18 in New Zealand, number 13 in Ireland, number 12 in the UK, number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 1 on the US Alternative, US Mainstream Rock and the Australian charts.

1-Stop-Experience - Peeping Tom

1-Stop-Experience is a group that combines the styles of Ska and reggae with Latin and jazz elements to create a spicy musical mix.

The band is made up of performers from a variety of former groups.

On tha album Jennie Matthias of the 80’s all-girl group the Belle Stars is on lead vocals. Skip McDonald plays lead guitar. Chico Chagas is on keyboards and synthesizer. Paget King is on keyboards and programming. Jim Dobson plays rhythm guitar. Martin Sawtell is on the bass. Damon Brown plays trumpet with additional horns provided by Crispy Horns. Winston Marche lays out the drumbeats. The production mix is by Adrian Sherwood.

On the road, Martin Stuart (of Bad Manners) plays keyboards. Lenny Bignell and Dredy Madoo (of Pama International) are on lead guitar and drums respectively. Ruby Fortune is on backing vocals. And Jim Dobson, Martin Sawtell, Damon Brown and Jennie Matthias all reprise their recording roles.

Limahl - 1983 (EP)

This week saw the single and EP release of 1983 by Kajagoogoo lead singer Limahl. Working with Tommy Olsen and writer/producer team Rune Maurtvedt and Stig Erik Antonsen, he has crafted a highly danceable track that has both a modern sound and a touch of nostalgia too. It can easily appeal to a new audience of youth today and those forty-something folks like myself who are parents of said teens and young adults. It is a song that can bring generations together.

Shy Blakeman - Long Distance Man

One of the things I enjoy about doing a blog and being on Twitter is having the chance to interact with musicians whose creative output might be something I would enjoy. I tend to not listen to a lot of current radio, so this is the perfect way for me to be exposed to new music that might not otherwise hit my radar.

This past weekend, one such opportunity came my way. I was pleased to be followed by a Texas artist by the name of Shy Blakeman (he can found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/ShyBlakeman and his website http://www.shyblakeman.com). He describes himself as “an old soul” who “melds together all the rural sounds from below the Mason-Dixon Line in order to create unique music that is hard to define by one genre”.

Kimberley Locke - One Love

In 2003, American Idol was starting its second season, which happened to be the first full season of the show I actually watched. There was a lot of talent in that years top 12 including a singer from Hartsville, Tennessee, by the name of Kimberley Locke (who just happens to be celebrating her thirty-fourth birthday today - January 3rd).

Daughtry - Daughtry

Happy thirty-second birthday today (December 26th) to American rocker Chris Daughtry.

The native North Carolinian came to national fame as a fifth season contestant on American Idol. A strong contender in a season packed with talent, he placed fourth that season and was able to move on to work on his debut album for RCA records. The self-titled Daughtry was released in 2006 and became the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. Within five weeks of its release it had sold over one million copies and by its ninth week on the charts it reached number 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It stayed on that chart for a total of one hundred and thirty six weeks. The album also won the American Music Award in 2007 for Favorite Pop-Rock Album.

Brian Setzer Orchestra - Boogie Woogie Christmas

Brian Setzer got his musical start as part of the Stray Cats, a rockabilly band in the early 1980’s. Having grown up playing the baritone horn in his school band, he always had a love for the big band orchestra styles. When the Cats split, he created a new group in 1990 filled with trumpets, trombones, saxophones as well as a rhythm section and dubbed it the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Playing a mix of swing, jump blues, and jazz, they were part of the swing revival of the mid-1990’s.

In 2002, the Brian Setzer Orchestra put out their fifth album, the holiday tune filled Boogie Woogie Christmas. They applied their unique musical style to holiday standards and some original tracks, resulting in a swinging, fun Christmas record.

Twisted Sister - A Twisted Christmas

I decided to take a break from Soundtrack Sunday for a few weeks so that I could present some more holiday albums for the season.

In 2006, Dee Snider and his fellow band mates of Twisted Sister decided to put out a CD of holiday songs entitled A Twisted Christmas. Given the band's musical slant, the album, of course, delivers holiday standards in a heavy metal style. The album sold very well commercially, reaching number 147 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and number 27 on the Billboard Holiday charts.

Janelle Monáe - Metropolis: The Chase Suite

Happy twenty-sixth birthday today (December 1st) to American R&B/soul musician Janelle Monáe Robinson.

It was February this year when I first discovered Janelle Monáe. I was watching the Grammy Awards and was totally blown away by her performance. I sought out music videos and then decided this was one new artist that I had to hear more of. I quickly downloaded a couple of her albums.

fDeluxe - Gaslight

A couple weeks back I was reviewing the Family’s 1985 self-titled debut album (click here for that review) and I mentioned that I really wished they had put together more than one record. This year, my prayers were answered when last month (September 2011), four of the five original members put out a new release called Gaslight under the new band name fDeluxe. It has been twenty-six years but this was well worth the wait.

Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now

Happy birthday to Simon Le Bon, born today (October 27th) back in 1958.

In late December of 2010, Duran Duran released a truncated version of this album on their own label Tapemodern and Allido Records (the label managed by Mark Ronson who also produced the album). In the US, the full length version was released in March of 2011 on the S-Curve Records label, distributed by Universal, and coincided with the 30th anniversary of the band’s first studio release. Currently, the band is out on tour to promote All You Need Is Now.

State Cows - State Cows

The end of last week I got an unexpected email from one Daniel Andersson. Turns out he is the lead singer and guitarist for a group he formed with Stefan Olofsson (keyboards and bass) in Umea, Sweden. For awhile they were the foundation of a short-lived Steely Dan tribute band called “2nd Arrangement”. Eventually, though, they began to play their own music under the name State Cows. In 2010, they released their self-titled debut album with the help of a number of guest musicians.

I gave one of their tunes a listen and was an instant fan. I knew I had to hear the rest of their album as soon as possible.

Kajagoogoo - Death Defying Headlines

Earlier this year of 2011, a number of my good Twitter followers alerted me the efforts by the fan community of Kajafax (http://kajafax.co.uk/) to spread the word about the new release by the 80’s UK band Kajagoogoo. The five original members (Limahl, Nick Beggs, Steve Askew, Jez Strode and Stuart Croxford Neale), after a successful recent reunion tour, were getting back into the studio for a new single and EP.

The results of their efforts are now available everywhere for download as the four-track Death Defying Headlines. I got my copy the other week from emusic.com and have been enjoying the songs a lot.

MYNX - Out of Sight Out of Mind

The musical duo known as MYNX are Ara Thorose and Holly Lovecat, two Los Angeles performers who’ve known each other since 2002 and became good friends after working similar venues. It was only natural for the two to collaborate. Each brings elements of their personal background to the mix, creating a sound that skillfully draws from electronic, pop, rock and dance.

I first became aware of MYNX last week while checking out the newly re-launched Catalyst magazine. The issue featured a profile on the band and also came with a download sampler that included one of their songs. After one spin, I was instantly hooked - so much so that I sought out the rest of the tracks of their 2009 EP Out of Sight Out of Mind to download.

Thomas Dolby - Oceanea EP

In 2010, Thomas Dolby began working on a new studio album called A Map of the Floating City which should be released some time in 2011. However, he started to release some of the tracks via EP releases. The first Amerikana was available in 2010. The second Oceanea was released in early 2011.