Greetings,
As you might have heard, rock crit dean Robert Christgau will edit the
summer issue of PSF (which will be followed by rebuttal issues edited
by Byron Coley and Joe Carducci), but for now...
In the latest issue of Perfect Sound Forever
<http://www.perfectsoundforever.com>
online music magazine, you'll
find (among other things):
KEVIN AYERS
Interview- fairground adventures
"Ayers has an amazing new album out "The Unfairground" - and I'm not
just saying that because Kevin was my room-mate and bandmate for a
week. I came up with the core questions and our good man Jason Gross
threw the questions at Kevin recently and came up with some of his own
as the interview progressed."
GLEN BUXTON
Alice Cooper's original guitarist
Time flies and as incredible as it may seem, it was over ten years ago
that Glen Buxton died prematurely. Struck by pneumonia complications,
a monument of rock faded away in his 50th year on the 19th October
1997 at Clarion Hospital, Iowa. It is high time we paid tribute to
one whose prodigious contribution allowed a bunch of students
originally only playing music to impress the girls of Cortez High
School in Phoenix, AZ, to become one of the biggest bands in the world
of rock in the '70's: the Alice Cooper Group.
CORB LUND
A very uncool band
"It's tough to write about a band like Corb Lund. It's not an easy
task, because there really isn't one (or more) elements of the music
that I can point out and go, "Well here is why this band is fantastic,
and you are very stupid for not seeing it." They're the kind of act
that is so blatantly great on every level (probably because there's
only one level for them to succeed on), all I can do is tell you a
story."
BRIAN DEWAN
artist/musician/Kangeroo fan
"Here we have this protean artist with so many different types of
artistic achievements and talents under his hat. Brian's singular
approach to folk music, audio-visual performances or art in general
should rouse many more from their somnambulism. Dewan is a serious
storyteller who delights in ephemerally inhabiting other voices,
projecting points of view from the past and sometimes the future onto
whatever drywall may be twitching on-by. "
ROKY ERICKSON
Fun days w/Doug Sahm
"Here Roky was, in a mental institution, surrounded by the weirdest
bunch of people you'd ever hope to meet, and he wanted a tab of acid
to 'celebrate.' I shuddered to think of what his trip would be like. I
wondered if he would ever be able to assimilate into anything
resembling "normal" life again after what he'd been through. Dana said
whenever she would visit she could tell when they'd been doing
electroshock therapy on him because he couldn't focus on anything and
he would stare a lot."
CHARLES GOCHER
Alan Bishop tribute- Sun City Girls
"On February 19th of this year 2007, Charles John Gocher Jr. departed
this incarnation of himself and dove into the great beyond. He was 54
years old in this particular lifetime and what a lifetime it was.
Along with my brother Rick (Sir Richard Bishop), I witnessed exactly
half of that life... the very best half without a doubt. His family
name is pronounced "Go-Shay" for all of you that have mispronounced it
endlessly in the past and I have and shall continue to refer to him
mostly as Gocher."
EARL GREYHOUND
Different kind o' power trio
"Classic rock made a comeback in the mid-2000's with an emerging group
of bands who wanted bring rock-and-roll back to a time of arena
anthems, tight pants, and machismo. While bands, such as The Darkness
and Wolfmother became quintessential poster-boys for the vintage
revival, multi-racial power trio Greyhound quietly formed bringing
forth their hard-rocking music, unique image, and a loud message to
the rock-and-roll landscape: 'Rock your faces, mix the races.'"
TEO MACERO
RIP
In tribute to legendary engineer/producer Teo Macero who died on
February 19, 2008, PSF presents this transcript from the Miles Davis
Conference, May 10-11, 1996, Washington University in St. Louis. Here
Macero speaks about his work with Miles Davis. Also see our 1997
interview with Macero.
THE MUFFINS
Art-rock not new-wave
"Among those with a passion for challenging, adventurous music, the
name of the Muffins (not the new wave group that did "Echo Beach") has
long been spoken in hushed tones of adulation. Cult heroes of an
underground genre (the avant-garde side of latter-day US progressive
jazz-rock), the Maryland-based band never saw much financial
recompense for their bold sonic innovations, but their blend of
avant-jazz, fusion, and British art-rock has influenced legions of
like-minded musical explorers for three decades."
PEASALL
Christian girls rock
"The fact that these girls are very much a family does provide
stability in the fickle world of music, and the family presence
creates the harmony that Sarah, Hannah, and Leah have. The Peasalls
remind the world that singing families multiply like rabbits in a
birthing contest. If one adds the nod to homeschooling into the
formula, then a person looks back to a time of the little red
schoolhouse and the schoolmarm who taught every conceivable grade
during the same time period."
CLEVE POZAR
Jazz/rap percusssion
"If this brilliant percussionist, inventor and educator had chosen
among his dozens of endeavors, it's possible that he might have
achieved iconic status in one esoteric scene or another. The
66-year-old (formerly Robert Frank Pozar) may never have found fame,
but he is a world-class master of an impressive array of drumming
styles including free jazz, hip-hop, 20th-century classical, bebop,
funk and his current obsession, bata drumming of the Afro-Cuban
tradition."
SEVDA
Turk/Swede jazz
"In 1970s Stockholm, a rare moment occurred when Turkish folk
musicians met Swedish players with American jazz sensibilities and
created sounds that were both ear-opening and beautiful. The primary
catalyst for this meeting was trumpeter and pianist Maffy Falay. Falay
had been "discovered" by the beret-sporting master of be-bop Dizzy
Gillespie during a Turkish tour in 1956. Inspired by Gillespie, Falay
slowly began moving west, playing with a number of big bands in Europe
and a radio orchestra in Germany. "
DONITA SPARKS
Return of an L7- interview
"Along with a new album, Sparks is involved in a new business
venture--CASH Music (Coalition of Artists and Shareholders), which she
co-founded with ex-Throwing Muse Kristen Hersh. This is the happy
sequel to the alt-rock explosion of the 1990s, one where the artists
continue find a niche for themselves, and the fans still know where to
find them."
VINYL ANACHRONIST
$60,000 turntable??
"I do thank my lucky stars every day that I have access to such
extraordinary hardware. In the last year, I've had hands-on
experience with a $33,000 CD player, a $110,000 speaker system and
other assorted niceties with price tags designed to initiate cardiac
arrest in most normal folks - but there's another side to all of this,
a facet that reminds me of a certain Peggy Lee song."
KRISTEEN YOUNG
High art & drama
"Imagine a pop song inspired by Dorothy Parker’s book of poems, Enough
Rope, and written about Morrissey. Or a songwriter who likes her
romance with edges and insults, crafting beautiful, heart-wrenching
songs that re-interpret the sappy love narrative for time immemorial.
Telling me with a smile, "I want to be in love so much that when
they’re gone, I want to kill myself." Imagine a Midwestern Christian
Fundamentalist adoptive mother angered by your voice as you, a small
child played with friends. Telling you who always loved singing,
'Kris, your voice cuts like a knife.'"
We're always looking for good writers and/or ideas so let us know if
you have anything to share.
See you online,
Jason
Perfect Sound Forever
online music magazine since 1993
<http://www.perfectsoundforever.com>
see website for contact information
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