The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH – the music is FIRE!

This week on the GHIDRAH…

Made up of CRegg Rondell (Vocals & Acoustic 12 String Guitar), Dusty Hunt (Guitar), Bill Gower (Bass), and Johnny Ransom (Drums), Boy Hits Car are known for playing the sickest, loveliest, ugliest, prettiest, most beautiful, melodic, heartfelt music, which the band dubs “Love Core.”

Hailing just 15 minutes north from three-quarters of the band's ancestral origin of Mexico, The Accident Experiment--comprised of former P.O.D. guitarist/songwriter Marcos Curiel, ex-Sprung Monkey rhythm section veterans Ernie Longoria and Tony DeLocht and Seattle-native/former Grammatrain vocalist Pete Stewart--are busy proving that they're more than your average hard rock radio band.

Touring builds character. Domeshots has built their character out of several tins of Pringles, forming its arms and legs with pipe cleaners and guitar strings. Their van is an accidental sanctuary to the unclean religion of Tour – equal parts shrine to Henry Rollins and Black Flag, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, and Primus before them, and sign of solidarity to their current road-dog peers: Avenged Sevenfold, Mars Volta, Dredg, and Rock Ridge label-mates Northwest Royale.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Boy Hits Car – “Tonight”
SONG 2: The Accident Experiment – “Mind Death Machine”
SONG 3: Domeshots – “OMG”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

New Release: Live at the 9:30 Club

It was the day after New Year’s, 2006, at the 9:30 Club. But it could have been anywhere.

That’s because the entertainment, Virginia Coalition (known to friends as VACO), has made it their habit to meet or beat the expectations of their fans, whether opening for the Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R., and Counting Crows, or packing the House of Blues in Chicago and Irving Plaza in New York on their own.

No matter where they perform, whether close to home in D.C. or further away as they break nationwide, each appearance reflects the talent and motivation these guys have exhibited ever since they first surfaced on the Georgetown club circuit.

In truth, that night at the 9:30 Club was really not that different from most of their gigs … and that’s what makes Live at the 9:30 Club, their second release on the bluhammock music label, worth hearing.

First of all, the place was jammed with supporters, whose enthusiasm feeds the energy of the band. (Check that chant-along passage on “Jerry Jermain.”) Like every Virginia Coalition show, this one is about how the love they get from their audience fuels what they do onstage.

That, of course, is the real point: This set might have been played at any one of the college dates, or the open-air amphitheaters, or the festivals that fill the VACO schedule. Through word of mouth, on message boards, and in the kudos they’ve earned from the Washington Post (“Reader’s Choice: Best Local Band” two years in a row) and other media, VACO is becoming part of this summer’s soundtrack throughout America.

But for now, let’s go back to this one performance, on a freezing night in Washington, when the tapes would roll and the world would learn what it means to hear Virginia Coalition in its glory …


Virginia Coalition – "Gates Of Wisdom": http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/vaco_gates.wma

TOUR DATES:
Sep 21 2006 9:30P
EXIT/ IN
Nashville, TN

Sep 22 2006 10:45P
Visualite Theatre
Charlotte, NC

Sep 23 2006 10:00P
Cat's Cradle
Carrboro (aka Chapel Hill), NC

Sep 25 2006 9:30P
Smith's Olde Bar
Atlanta, GA

Sep 26 2006 11:00P
Cumberland's
Charleston, SC

Sep 29 2006 9:00P
Alley Katz
Richmond, VA

Sep 30 2006 8:00P
8 x 10
Baltimore, MD

Oct 3 2006 9:00P
Milestone's
Rochester, NY

Oct 4 2006 11:00P
Castaway's
Ithaca, NY

Oct 5 2006 10:00P
Red Square
Albany, NY

Oct 6 2006 10:30P
Higher Ground South
Burlington, VT

Oct 19 2006 10:30P
Mexicali Blues
Teaneck, NJ

Oct 20 2006 7:00A
WFXT Fox Morning News (A.M.)
Boston, MA

Oct 20 2006 10:00P
The Pickle Barrel (P.M.)
Killington, VT

Oct 21 2006 11:30P
Harper's Ferry
Allston, MA

Oct 27 2006 12:30A
The Blue Note
New York, NY

Oct 28 2006 10:30P
North by Northwest Philadelphia, PA

This week on the GHIDRAH, we light candles and take a chill. New Jersey-born and now a Los Angeles-based writer-producer, Dan Lavery pines for devotional love. Lavery is formerly of the mega-platinum group Tonic, catapulted into mainstream stardom in the late 1990's on the strength of several radio hits including "If You Could Only See", and "You Wanted More".

With the intimacy of singer-songwriters like Beth Orton and Damien Rice, and the power and intensity of bands like U2 and Coldplay, In Flight Radio has a collection of unique and memorable songs that have generated a good deal of buzz for the band online and at college radio. The band is unsigned, and is releasing their debut album independently.

Jade’s controversial album Banned In America is the source for her radio break-out track “If I Catch My Breath”. This sexy ex-patriot is rocking the U.S., and border police are helpless to stop her…

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Dan Lavery – Say That You Love Me
SONG 2: In Flight Radio – Come Back and Stay
SONG 3: Jade – If I Catch My Breath

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

This week on the GHIDRAH, we light candles and take a chill. New Jersey-born and now a Los Angeles-based writer-producer, Dan Lavery pines for devotional love. Lavery is formerly of the mega-platinum group Tonic, catapulted into mainstream stardom in the late 1990's on the strength of several radio hits including "If You Could Only See", and "You Wanted More".

With the intimacy of singer-songwriters like Beth Orton and Damien Rice, and the power and intensity of bands like U2 and Coldplay, In Flight Radio has a collection of unique and memorable songs that have generated a good deal of buzz for the band online and at college radio. The band is unsigned, and is releasing their debut album independently.

Jade’s controversial album Banned In America is the source for her radio break-out track “If I Catch My Breath”. This sexy ex-patriot is rocking the U.S., and border police are helpless to stop her…

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Dan Lavery – Say That You Love Me
SONG 2: In Flight Radio – Come Back and Stay
SONG 3: Jade – If I Catch My Breath

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

Kweevak Podcast

Listen to the latest Kweevak Podcast for some good fresh tunes and exclusive interviews.


Kwevak Magazine Podcast

Meatloaf Meatloaf Double Beatloaf I Like Meatloaf

We never thought we'd say that, But the new track from Meatloaf is actually not bad. The lyrics could use some revision, but the music is strong.

Here's a track from the new album.

The Monster is Loose
http://popculturehipster.com/img/themonstersloose-meatloaf.mp3

Thank's to http://www.popculturehipster.com

This week on the GHIDRAH

We hit the road with the Bobaflex tour, featuring Indorphine and Psychostick. The tour is currently rocking the mid-West, and will run down souff through Florida.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Bobaflex “Better Than Me”
SONG 2: Indorphine “Spaghetti”
SONG 3: Psychostick “Beer”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

Check out the “Better Than Me” video from Bobaflex: http://www.tvtrecords.com/watch/watch.jsp?son_id=6881 – clearly this tour is destroying everything in its path, and consuming vast amounts of delicious York peppermint patties and Gatorade.

Check out the “Spaghetti” video from Indorphine: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/spaghetti_video.wmv - according to Zagat, the food and ambiance are “shallow and pedantic” but the service is “warm and friendly like that lady I met in Las Vegas”.

Now These Boys Are Angry

If you are constipated or in need of some Rockem' Sockem' Robots theme music look no further!!!

Band name is Fuck The facts

Fact is, this is scary. It's like Slayer meets Frank Zappa at a muppet machine gun party.

http://www.relapse.com/ecards/fuckthefacts

Harvey danger To Release CD

The third LP by Seattle band Harvey Danger will be released Tuesday, September 13th, on HD’s own label, Phonographic Records. Produced by John Goodmanson and Steve Fisk—whose combined credits include dozens of essential records by bands as varied as Sleater-Kinney, Beat Happening, Low, Screaming Trees, Blonde Redhead, and Nirvana—Little By Little… is the sound of a radically transformed group.

This week on the GHIDRAH

Psychostick proclaims “beer is good, beer is good, beer is good, and stuff.” To that sentiment I say “word.” I say “word ‘em up.”

Cinder returns with their rawker “The Fall” and Redding mellows us out for “Another Day”. All 3 bands have records coming out on Rock Ridge Music this summer. Please reply for a review copy of any or all of them.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Psychostick “Beer!!!”
SONG 2: Cinder “The Fall”
SONG 3: Redding “Another Day”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

Click to enjoy the high art that is the “Beer!!!” video by Psychostick: http://www.psychostick.com/beer_small.htm

Free Tunes!!! GHIDRAH

This week on the GHIDRAH, The Accident Experiment offers a modern rock response to the Police classic “Every Breath You Take” and Boy Hits Car spills their guts in a down-tempo rocker. This week we also feature songwriter Jade, who has been banned in America for no damn good reason.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: The Accident Experiment “Sick Love Letter”
SONG 2: Boy Hits Car “You Don’t Care”
SONG 3: Jade “Lay Me Down”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

The Accident Experiment “Sick Love Letter” video is trippy and stuff: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/sickloveletter_video.wmv

A Bar Musician's Dream: Boozster Hangover Prevention

If you are a gigging musician that is always in the bar scene, you know that the next morning starts with a hangover from the loads of shots brought up to the stage by the "party guy" of the crowd.

I tested out this new hangover prevention remedy from my friends at Boozster. I drank a boat load of Baccardi, Yukon Jack and a few pitchers of beer along with following the instructions to take the capsules once every few hours.

Needles to say I woke the next day feeling as if we never touched a drop of alcohol the night before.

Try it for yourself, they are giving away free samples.
http://boozster.com/freesample.php

This week on the GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH Courtesy of Rock Ridge Music– 3 new songs every week, all for free.

Dan Lavery (formerly of Tonic) offers some of his new solo material, Boy Hits Car rocks soft and slow on their new single, and Kittie breaks stuff and yells about things.

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: Dan Lavery “Say That You Love Me”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma

SONG 2: Boy Hits Car “You Don’t Care”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma

SONG 3: Kittie “Never Again”
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

This Week's Free Songs: GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH – 3 new songs every week, all for free.

This week on the GHIDRAH, Reel Big Fish offers a sneak preview of their upcoming live record – it’s a GHIDRAH exclusive! Indorphine gets raw on their must-be-seen-to-be-believed video for “Spaghetti”, and BlueSuedeGroove wants to know if you need a backrub.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Reel Big Fish “She’s Got A Girlfriend Now” (Live)
SONG 2: Indorphine “Spaghetti”
SONG 3: BlueSuedeGroove “Does It Hurt?” (Live)

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:
SONG 1: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_1.wma
SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma
SONG 3: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_3.wma

INDORPHINE – “SPAGHETTI” video - http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/spaghetti_video.wmv (gotta watch!)

Type O Negative DVD

The attitude of the international press towards New York band Type O Negative has not always been unanimously positive. The group’s unconventionality, their austere, occasionally even unwieldy songs were a thorn in the flesh of many a journalist. Despite all this opposition, Type O Negative have released several classics which even their fiercest detractors respect and admire. “No other album pairs metallic maliciousness, self-contemptuous cynicism, world- and love -weariness, epic melancholia and danceable pop appeal as perfectly, and the result is an enduring classic with a weeping willow romanticism that is persistent enough to still be sympathized with on the dance floors in ten to twelve years’ time,” commented the German music magazine, Rock Hard, on Bloody Kisses in 1993; and they were right. More than twelve years later, Type O Negative are still the most important act on the gothic metal scene. In 2006, their mostly melancholy songs continue to sparkle with great melodies and dramatic atmospheres. Since the early Nineties, band mastermind Peter Steele has been steering his troupe through the choppy waters of the music scene, never changing course, even in difficult times. The result is certainly respectable: gold and platinum awards, sold-out tours and cover stories galore. Steamhammer/SPV are about to release Type O Negative’s new DVD, Symphony For The Devil (The World Of Type O Negative), on March 20, 2006 (US: March 14), featuring recordings from the 1999 Bizarre festival plus a bonus single CD with a Santana medley, rather an unusual choice for Type O Negative. In other words, a well rounded-offering, not only for the band’s fans, but for aficionados of the genre in general.

The core of the DVD consists of cuts from a Type O Negative show at the Cologne Bizarre festival in summer 1999, when cameras documented the unique live merits of Peter Steele (vocals, bass guitar), Josh Silver (keyboards), Kenny Hickey (Guitar), and Johnny Kelly (drums). The concert consists of sixteen tracks, all of them in brilliant sonic and visual quality (stereo PCM and Dolby Digital 5.1). In a concert atmosphere typical for Type O Negative, the band presented most of their classics at the Bizarre, ‘Cinnamon Girl,’ ‘My Girlfriend’s Girlfriend,’ ‘Christian Woman,’ ‘Too Late: Frozen,’ ‘Love You To Death,’ and ‘Black #1’ among them. Exclusive bonus material includes interviews, hilarious backstage and private footage, and a band biography, all filmed and compiled by the band itself. For the first time, the musicians have also allowed insights into the goings-on behind the stage.

As a bonus, Type O Negative have included a special single CD, featuring a previously unreleased studio session of a Santana medley, consisting of ‘Evil Ways,’ ‘Oye Como Va,’ and ‘Black Magic Woman.’ All in all a comprehensive retrospective that proves that Peter Steele is definitely capable of seeing beyond the limitations of doom metal. “Everything but rap,” he comments on his life-long inspirations. Particularly – next to Black Sabbath and the Beatles – Laibach, Devo and Depeche Mode. Steele: “I get bored quickly and tire easily listening to songs by other acts. It’s difficult to keep me interested for a long time.” That’s why he isn’t rooted in the past but optimistically looks to the future in 2006. “I’m getting older with every year, and I’ve noticed that I can’t change that. So what am I to do? I’ve come to terms with the situation, joke about it and look at it from an ironic angle. Can there be a better way to accept aging than to take it with a sense of humour?”

Preview the DVD!
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak2/symphony_typeo_video.wmv

New Tunes This Week: GHIDRAH

The Rock Ridge Music GHIDRAH – 3 new songs every week, all for free.

This week on the GHIDRAH, Redding and Tony Lucca deliver a one-two punch of melancholia, and Blanco Diablo’s snarling fire-piss follows to kick your teeth in. Tony Lucca’s digital EP Through The Cracks hits DSPs tomorrow – his soft and sensitive, sugary songs were composed within the Hellmouth, deep within Satan’s corridor, and are perfect for a 6/6/06 release date.

Here are this week’s GHIDRAH songs:
SONG 1: Redding “Another Day”
SONG 2: Tony Lucca “Death Of Me”
SONG 3: Blanco Diablo “9 Lives”

And, for your convenience, here are the GHIDRAH links:

SONG 1: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak%2Frockridge_1.wma

SONG 2: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/rockridge_2.wma

SONG 3: http://emwebmail.com/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fvista.streamguys.com%2Fjspiewak%2Frockridge_3.wma

This Schuur is Some Fine Jazz Vocals

Born in Tacoma, Washington, vocalist Diane Schuur has earned respect and garnered praise from such legendary musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and B.B. King. Known for her three-and-a-half octave vocal range, Schuur’s remarkable career began at age nine with her first professional gigs, including those at the local Holiday Inn. While still a student at the Washington State School for the Blind, a 16-year-old Schuur was performing original material and wowing audiences with her playful and distinctive voice. Then, Schuur made her Monterey Jazz Festival debut in 1975. The legendary Stan Getz became one of her biggest fans and an important mentor after hearing her perform at the Festival. The rest is history.

Since then, Schuur has become a legend herself. She has been nominated for five and received two GRAMMY® Awards for "Best Jazz Vocalist," as well as headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall. Schuur has toured the world and has performed with such greats as Stan Getz, B.B. King, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones. She has performed countless times on The Tonight Show, has performed at The GRAMMY’s and at the White House.
On June 6, Schuur will release her second live album, Diane Schuur: Live In London. Diane Schuur: Live In London is her first release on the GR2 Classics label and her twentieth album. Recorded at the famous Ronnie Scott’s in London, England, this 14 track album epitomizes the passion, humor, and power of Diane’s live performance.

The Very Thought of You
http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/diane_thought.wma

http://www.dianeschuur.com

Blackmore's Night

What an unexpected joy it is to be able to regain paradise lost--to go back in time, to a simpler more rustic life, when achieving an idyllic existence through hard work and good times seemed infinitely more possible than it does today in our current culturally complicated world.
Such is the magic conjured by the singular musical entity known as Blackmore’s Night, a group that effortlessly transports listeners back to the merry world of Medieval life with their festive, celebratory sound. Led by otherworldly vocal sorceress Candice Night and guitar deity—and former Deep Purple and Rainbow leader—Ritchie Blackmore, the group vividly recreates the charm and good cheer of Renaissance times by combining their reverent passion for a bygone era with the extraordinary musical skill and proficiency gained from years working as rock-and-roll troubadours. The result, as evidenced on their astonishing new album, THE VILLAGE LANTERNE, is music that sounds both soothingly timeless and refreshingly modern.
“When we started this project,” says Blackmore, “people would say, ‘You must be crazy. Why would you want to get involved in Medieval Renaissance music?’ But we did it because it was a labor of love. To me, it was time just to play something that I felt was 100% honest. It was just something I had to do. It was in my blood. I’d always listened to Renaissance music, and this was the first time that I could actually get involved in playing it. And Candice’s voice lends itself to those particular melodies. It all seemed so right. It was very natural.”
It is a documented fact that the music of Medieval times is extremely difficult to recreate. Many of the songs that were created half a millennium ago were improvised by bards that traveled from town to town, by farm laborers needing to pass the time in the fields, and by musicians accompanying the many impromptu dances and festivals of the day. It was music created to elevate the quotidian moments of everyday life. As such, many of the songs of that time have passed away with the men and women who created them.
The evanescence of much of the Medieval musical heritage is all the more reason to be thankful for the existence of Blackmore’s Night. Like the most fervently inquisitive scholars, Night and Blackmore have for years immersed themselves in the study of the customs, mores and culture of the Middle Ages. Not happy to just dutifully perform the already existing songs that their research uncovered, they decided to channel their interest into creating an entirely new repertoire that has enabled them to bring their love of this music to brand-new audiences all around the world.

Listen for yourself......
25 Years: http://vista.streamguys.com/jspiewak/bn_years.wma

or visit http://www.blackmoresnight.com

Serge Gainsboug

In the past few years, a new name, albeit an unpronounceable one, has appeared on the lips of English-speaking musicians – Serge Gainsbourg. When speaking to the French, the speaker is often asked to repeat the supposed neologism until those who continue to say “Ze Bitulz” finally grasp that is in fact an inadvertently mangled proper noun. But what a name! Serge Gainsbourg, the singer-songwriter-Pygmalion-actor-filmmaker-author-entertainer-agitator-gambler-ladys man, a man whose many facets reflect in each other to form one of the most dazzling prisms in twentieth-century French culture, and whose sparkle now spreads well beyond both France and the century.

A few years ago both the superstar Madonna and the underground prophet John Zorn declared their admiration for Gainsbourg – separately, but with the same zeal. The English group Portishead lifted the heady atmosphere of Cargo culte from the Melody Nelson album for their stunning remix of Massive Attack’s Karmacoma. De La Soul sampled Gainsbourg, Beck borrowed wholesale (Paper tiger), and countless artists cover his songs. In France and worldwide (from Air to Sonic Youth) artists by the dozens claim him as an influence, to the point that the first proper Gainsbourg biography in English, A fistful of Gitanes by the journalist Sylvie Simmons ended up establishing Gainsbourg on the international scene both as a musician and cultural icon.
Yet for a long time, all the British knew about him was his romp on vinyl with Jane Birkin on Je t’aime moi non plus, a single banned by the BBC, condemned by the Vatican, and yet which topped British charts in 1969. They also knew that he got Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani and Vanessa Paradis – four landmarks of the French feminine ideal seen from outside France – to sing, and that he shocked Whitney Houston on live television. He is therefore widely remembered in Britain as a sex maniac with, as his album title says, a cabbage for a head.

But those used to pacing the avenues and alleys of his expansive repertoire know very well that Gainsbourg cannot be summed up in a bit of famous heaving and panting. In fact, Gainsbourg cannot be summed up at all – he is enlarged and appreciated from various angles with the helpless realisation that none of these can provide a satisfactory snapshot of the man.
Trying to discover him all in one go, as was the case for many outside France, is to suffer severe vertigo. Most are flabbergasted when they realise that at the beginning, he was the heir and soon-to-be conspirator of the Left Bank cabarets and the cellars of Saint-Germain, mixing Baudelairean poetry and oblique jazz under the influence of Boris Vian, coloured with exotic essences from lounge music. Again, when they discover he became the transformer of the pop movement, turning young Londoners’ heads, handing out songs to girls like sugar-and-spice pills. Or once more, when they come across the film soundtracks, mirroring some of his intensely cinematographic albums, such as Initials BB or Melody, not to mention when he parachuted into Jamaica at the time of the reggae version of La Marseillaise, or into New York USA under the blows of digital funk.

For Gainsbourg is the classical and the modern combined in one man – ultra-classical (his perfect rhymes as trimmed hedges as the ones in an 19th century French bourgeois garden, and his composition often paying tribute to Chopin or Brahms) and ultra-modern, able to absorb, Bowie-like, all that is avant-garde and bring it into the light, or to wrap up slang in the words of the great French orator, Bossuet.

Because of all this, and still much more, over time Gainsbourg has become something of a Colossus whose shadow weighs heavily over those who intend to see him. This is particularly the case with French artists who have tried to cover his songs – their deference is sometimes so great that the strain gives them a hernia before the first chorus. However, those who rubbed shoulders with Gainsbourg know very well that he was overjoyed when his work was readapted, especially with those brave enough to get inside his head, dismantling his work for material to build something else. As he himself put it, songs are a minor art form, not for worshipping, but rather for twisting our way.

When a cover album was planned by Jean-Daniel Beauvallet, Christian Fevret and Timothée Verrecchia for the fifteenth anniversary of his last lungful of Gitane smoke, it quickly became obvious that only foreign groups and artists could give new life to a repertoire so ingrained in French culture. Invitations were sent out and the overwhelmingly positive responses returned like boomerangs. Everyone rushes for Gainsbourg, and the cast list speaks for itself – some of the most prominent British and American artists of the last ten years are featured. From Tricky to Franz Ferdinand, from Cat Power to The Rakes, from Placebo to Michael Stipe (REM), from Portishead to Marianne Faithfull, from Jarvis Cocker to The Kills… “Pas dégueu !” (not too rotten), as Gainsbourg would have said. Maintaining the links with the past, some of the best known original singers also agreed to appear: Françoise Hardy, Dani, and above all Jane Birkin! One last hurdle remained – the language barrier, a risky business with Gainsbourg. An exercise in high precision, poetically and semantically, entrusted to two word-jugglers with a worldwide reputation, Boris Bergman and Paul Ives. Just reading their adaptation of Poinçonneur des Lilas set in a depressing working-class London shows how well the challenge was met. Despite the prestige of the cast and the difficulty of carrying it out, Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited was above all a project undertaken with humility, lightness and a certain degree of impertinence. This would, no doubt, have pleased the man who, over the thirty glorious years of his career, inspired this very cocktail more than anyone else.

Audio Streams:Cat Power & Karen Elson – I Love You (me either)
Windows Media Player
Real Player

Jarvis Cocker & Kid Loco – I Just Came To Tell You That I’m Going
Windows Media Player
Real Player

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Not sure what to get for Mom? Here are a few on our list:

1. Flowers: http://www.proflowers.com. Apparently there is a promo with Howard Stern and Sirius, where if you click on the microphone at the top right of the page and enter in "100" you get a special deal.

2. Try sending her an Amish Spread: http://www.amishmart.com/amt-z-12001.html . Nothing says I Love You like Jelly!

3. Send her some music on DVD: http://rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=971624
I have heard everyone say their mom is a Manilow fan!

Stay tuned for Fathers Day suggestions.