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Category: Reviews

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  • Another Way To Die (The New James Bond Theme) Hits The Internet

    http://www.007.com/popup/wallpapers/images/qos_keyart_1280x1024.jpg

    What do Paul McCartney, Chris Cornell, Sheena Easton, Rita Coolidge, Tina Turner, and Sheryl Crow all have in common?  They all performed a song that was featured in a James Bond movie.  And now we can add the duo of Jack White and Alicia Keys to this list.  Hmm? Did you ever think you would see these two heavyweights team up for a song?  I sure as hell never did.  Their collaboration, Another Way To Die, from the upcoming James Bond movie which hits theaters in November, has just begun streaming at http://www.thirdmanrecords.com.

    The song has that unique dark sound that identifies it as a Bond tune, but from the opening guitar riff you can tell immediately it’s something from the White Stripes.   The combination of piano, guitars, and full on orchestra to open the song is amazing.   You can also hear the distinct R&B sound in the song to remind you that this isn’t going to be just a rock & roll tune. The vocals don’t come on for about a minute, with Jack White singing the opening lyric, and then the two trading off.  I was figuring Alicia Keys would be doing the vocals, with Jack White also writing the song and contributing the back-up vocals and guitar work.  I’m glad I was wrong.  Although I respect Alicia Keys, it’s Jack White’s contribution I was more interested in.  You also get the familiar random Jack White guitar riffs in the middle of the song.  Another Way To Die is surprisingly good, and I can’t wait to hear it over the opening credits of the new Bond Movie.

    I give it 4 Stars.  Good stuff, as Jack White usually never lets me down.

    For shits and giggles, here is my personal Top 5 Bond Themes:

    1) For Your Eyes Only/Sheena Easton

    2) A View To A Kill/Duran Duran

    3) Thunderball/Tom Jones

    4) Goldfinger/Shirley Bassey

    5) You Know My Name/Chris Cornell  (From Casino Royale)

    And the the worst was Madonna’s Die Another Day.  Uggh!

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #4: The Immaterial Ocean

     

    Squeeze's "Packet of Three" EP.
    Squeeze

    SQUEEZE  Packet Of Three EP:  “Cat On A Wall” b/w “Night Ride” & “Backtrack”(Deptford Fun City Records DFC 01, November 1979)

    Squeeze needs no introduction, so I’ll just dig right into the meat of this platter.  This is the 1979 reissue of their 1977 debut EP on the Deptford Fun City label from the UK.  Exactly how I ended up with this I’m unsure, but suffice to say it’s one of my favorite little time-capsules from the late-’70’s English punk/pub/power-pop explosion.  Not that I was there to witness it mind you, but some scenes you just have to experience vicariously, right?  Right.  So let’s move onward.

    Besides the obvious sexual implications, the EP’s title refers to the fact that it features 3 tracks:  “Cat On A Wall” adorns side A on its own, while “Night Ride” and “Backtrack” share the flip.  For some reason, the label fails to mention “Night Ride,” but it’s listed on the sleeve, so nevermind.  The disc is pressed on a red vinyl so dark it looks black;  when held up to light it gives off a dark cherry glow.  Nothing could be finer.

    Side A’s “Cat On A Wall” is pure hard-driving power-pop, the kind I wish Squeeze still made.  Granted, there’s lots of bands aping this sound today, but these cats are the MASTERS, let’s face it.  The blistering guitar solos, the octave harmony vocals, the drum solo bordering on Peartgasm, descending into pure acid-fried dissonance and back again, the run-off groove that lasts forever if you let it…who the hell else could get away with this and live to tell about it?  No one besides Squeeze, that’s who.  And the only bad thing I can say about this track is it’s way too short.  Ya gotta play it twice.  (I found a video someone else made, playing the original pressing.  It looks & sounds better than any vid I can make, so here it is.)

    SQUEEZE \”Cat On A Wall\” on YouTube

    “Night Ride” opens the flip-side with a tinny, distorted guitar playing eighth-notes on the open strings from low to high, leading into a raucous hard-rocker.  Then “Backtrack,” which basically sounds like Professor Longhair on steroids and speed, zips in and out of your ears before you can even realize what has hit them.  Former Velvet Underground violist John Cale produced all 3 of these tracks, as well as their entire debut album.  He’s even pictured with the band on the back of this EP’s sleeve.  Now, from what I’ve read, Cale and the band absolutely hated each other and never worked together again, but who the fuck knows or cares?  All I know is that Cale coaxed an amazing sound from these guys in this session, putting the levels up into the red, developing a thick, hard rock for Squeeze to build on.  And build they did.  But they never sounded quite like this again.

    NEXT WEEK:  What happens when a strangely-named English guitar virtuoso meets four mysterious masked-men from Shreveport in swinging 1970’s San Francisco?

  • Lindsey Buckingham’s Latest Musical Present: “Gift of Screws”

    Gift Of Screws

    When Rolling Stone magazine or one the gazillion websites out there feature a list of the greatest guitarists of all time, they always leave off Lindsey Buckingham.  I’m not sure why.  The guy is a genius whose self-taught finger plucking technique has created a truly inspiring sound.  For those who don’t know who Lindsay is, he’s the most influential member of Fleetwood Mac whose name isn’t Stevie Nicks.  When Lindsey and Stevie joined the Mac in 1975, Fleetwood Mac soared to new heights.  Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie might have been the faces of the band, but it was Lindsey Buckingham who contributed the most with his unique guitar style and beautiful melodies.  The majority of my favorite Mac songs were written or sung by Lindsey.  For you trivia buffs out there, he also was responsible for Holiday Road, the theme from the National Lampoon Vacation movies.  He also had a few solo hits in the 80’s including Go Insane and Trouble.

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