New Single/Video from Sun Room, "At Least I Tried"

The SoCal based garage/surf band Sun Room have a new video for their single "At Least I Tried"

Check it out below:

Album Review: Honey Island Swamp Band - Custom Deluxe

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of the newest release by Honey Island Swamp Band titled, Custom Deluxe. 

A strong album from these roots rock veterans. 

Support the artists, buy the album, read the review, and peep some video below:

30 Days of Dead Returns for November

It is Novemeber 1st, which means the free guessing game and MP3 downloads return with The Grateful Dead's 30 Day's of Dead.

From the band themselves:

The rumors are true! Each day in November we give away a high-quality MP3 download. That's 30 days of unreleased Grateful Dead tracks from the vault, selected by Dead archivist and producer David Lemieux. Intrigued? We're also going to put your knowledge to the test and give you the chance to win some sweet swag from the Dead.

If you've been here before, jump right in with the link below. If you need a little refresher, here's how it all goes down:

You know your Ables from your Bakers from your C's, but can your finely tuned ears differentiate the cosmic "comeback" tour from a spacey 70's show? Each day we'll post a free download from one of the Dead's coveted shows. Will it be from that magical night at Madison Square Garden in '93 or from way back when they were warming it up at Winterland? Is that Pigpen's harmonica we hear? Brent on keys? Step right up and try your hand all November long and win prizes while you're at it.

Guess the venue and date correctly and you'll be automatically entered to win the prize of the day - a 2024 Grateful Dead Wall Calendar. Each day a winner will be selected at random, so take your time and make your best guess! Answer correctly and you will also be automatically entered to win the Grand Prize - a copy of our SOLD OUT HERE COMES SUNSHINE 1973 boxed set.

Check it out every day this month or come back at the end and download them all. To get started here is a great version of today's first song "Comes A Time" and RtBE favorite from the group: 

Live Review: The Headhunters with DJ Logic - Cafe Wha?! NYC 10/25/23

 Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of The Headhunters with DJ Logic early show at Cafe Wha?! in NYC on Wednesday 10/25/23. 

This show took place exactly 50 years to the day that the outfit (with Herbie Hancock), released their most famous album. 

Support the artists, read the review and peep some video below from a show earlier in the year:

Album Review: The Kills - God Games

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of The Kills newest album God Games. 

A pretty cool record from Alisson and Jaime. 

Support the artists, buy the album, read the review and peep some video below:

Celebrating the Halloween Spirit Through Song

A few years ago, one of the best blogs out there, WFMU's Rock and Soul Ichiban (now called Boss Radio 66) put together a great collection of Halloween inspired tunes and playlists.

They have crafted one dealing with ghosts which you can directly download. Another that tackles vampires and you can grab that one directly as well. Now there is also Weird-O-Matic streaming and a you can also drink a spooky cup o' Alligator Wine!

All of these are fantastic and as always Ichiban gives us old songs that are brand new to RtBE and also flat out awesome!

I mean how could we have missed The Bar-Kay's "Holy Ghost" for all of these years?

Damn that is some funky stuff. WFMU Rock and Soul Ichiban always delivers the goods, but in 2014 they got some help from their friends over at Fringe Factory who offered up a Halloween themed show themselves right here.

Here are a few songs that jumped out to us, a tune by the fantastic Mummies, and of course it wouldn't be Halloween without the "Monster Mash" and Elvira. She closes out our Halloween focus with her Third Man Records release "2 Big Pumpkins" written by the B-52's Fred Schneider:

Dylan Cover #604 Daniele Brillo "What Was It You Wanted"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Daniele Brillo of the Dylan tune "What Was It You Wanted?"

Thoughts On Original:

From the first time we tackled a cover of this song:
Oh Mercy brought Dylan back in from the creative wasteland that was his 1980's. It had an eerie sense of foreboding, helped by producer Daniel Lanois and the ghosts of New Orleans. The irritable old man in Dylan came out a bit here as well, and "What Was It You Wanted" is a good example of that, a confused searching that colors the lyrics as the protagonist just can't seem to get it right.
Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Daniele Brillo is an Italian cover artist who focuses on Dylan, Neil Young and others.  This is the second time checking out Brillo in this series we caught up with him almost a hundred covers ago. 

Thoughts on Cover:

A solid version that stays close to the vest of the original with haunting, ominous phrasing and singing. Well done. 

Full Show Friday: The Four Tops - Live at the Second Chance 1982

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...The Four Tops!

Let's go way back to 1982 for The Four Tops live at the Second Chance in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Pro shot, Pro sound, Enjoy:

New Single/Video from Lxandra for "Sublime"

The Finnish alt-pop artist Lxandra has a new lyric video out for the song "Sublime"

Photo credit: Lumi Hartikainen

In talking about writing/recording the track, the artist states:

"I wrote it in the middle of the night on the piano, drinking red wine, during the last COVID lockdown. I recorded it on my live microphone, which is the vocal take used on the final version."

Check it out below:

Album Review: The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds

The Rolling Stones

Hackney Diamonds

** out of *****

The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds is the first studio album of original material by the band since 2005's A Bigger Bang and the group's first release following the 2021 death of drummer Charlie Watts.

It also sounds like what AI would come up with if someone plugged the phrase “year 2023...new Rolling Stones album” into it, as Hackney Diamonds resembles what makes The Stones great on the surface, with touchpoints to past successes, yet, when you dig a little deeper things aren’t all that satisfying.

Working with producer/co-writer on a few tracks, Andrew Watt, the band sounds modern, fully taut, and glossed up as the production is overly pristine, robust, and gleaming. The booming hits from new drummer Steve Jordan and strutting riffs from Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood kick things off on album opener “Angry”, playing like a checklist of Stones attributes, but without a true connection.

The band has been corporate for literal decades at this point, and many of these songs will work in commercials and remind fans of even better past tunes, such as the disco touches of “Mess It Up” recalling the late 70’s/early 80’s efforts, the countryish Let it Bleed-like “Dreamy Skies” and the sax work on “Get Close”, yet this is not Sticky Fingers, more like Buffed Manicured Nails.

A few touches stand out positively, guest Beatle Paul McCartney surprisingly distorts up a punkish jam titled “Bite My Head Off” with giddy, infectious bass work before the band strap on a good guitar solo for “Whole Wide World”, but for one of the innovators of the genre Richards doesn’t have many memorable riffs here.

Jagger as well delivers a perfectly fine performance vocally, especially considering his age, but lyrically nothing is worth remembering after a few spins, as the vagueness of his words and the idea of still living a “hitting and running through" life style has all been heard before and can sound pretty stale from the great grandfather.

Then again, what is expected from 80 year old rockers? Overall, this is not a bad album, just an incredibly over-polished one from an aging band and maybe the fact that it exists at all on a totally acceptable-to-many-bands/middle-of-the-road level, is a complete success on its own. 

One of the best moments occurs when Charlie Watts is reborn with old bassist Bill Wyman for “Live By the Sword” which feels looser, almost as if the old guard were still workshopping the song, with Jagger’s lyrics in particular needing an upgrade.

If this happens to be the last studio album from the Stones, they went out on a high note to wrap it up. The band close Hackney Diamonds by showcasing the over the top drama they mastered during their peak years as Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder join for “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” whose extended, vibrant, interplay turns it into the clear standout track on the record. They then finish with a nod to their blues foundation, delivering a version of Muddy Waters “Rolling Stone Blues” which gave the legendary rockers their name.

It is hard not to grade The Stones against themselves, one of the greatest bands of all-time. No one outside of the band needed A Bigger Bang in 2005, and the same holds true for Hackney Diamonds in 2023. Also, no one should ever tell artists when to quit, and the fact that Mick, Keith, and Ronnie wanted to go through the writing/recording/release process all over again (with a host of A list friends helping them out) is perfectly fine. 

A high gloss, fairly bland, modern sounding album like Hackney Diamonds is just another step-on-down the road for The Rolling Stones.

____________________

Support the band, buy the album, and peep some video below:

Gold Steps Cover Taylor Swift with Pop Punk Version of "Blank Space"

The female-fronted pop punk band, Gold Steps from Milwaukee, WI have released their cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space".

From the band:

"Taylor Swift's 'Blank Space' is an iconic song that we've always loved," said Betty, lead vocalist of Gold Steps. "We wanted to put our own spin on it, adding an edgier and more aggressive dimension to the track. We're excited to share our take on this classic with the world."

Check out the track:

Live Review: Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet - Birdland, NYC 10/19/23

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of last weeks Ron Carter's Foursight Quartet's early show at Birdland on 10/19/23.

Such a privilege to get to see the legendary Carter, in one of his favorite clubs, with his quartet in vibrant action; I hope I have half of Carter's energy when I am 86. 

Thanks to the Birdland staff for hooking it up. Much appreciated.  

Support the artists, see them live, read the review and peep some video below:

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New Video/Single from Hannah Anders "18"

The Nashville, TN based artist Hannah Anders has a new video/single out titled "18".

Regarding the song:

"After sitting with my producer and reviewing the giant handful of songs I had written for an upcoming project, he looked at me and said, 'I feel like we're missing one more. One more that's YOU, that's personal, that's your story.' So I set off to continue writing, and set up a co-write with Nashville writer Kris Bergsnes. As we sat and talked about lyrical ideas we both had in our journals and stories of our lives (as you do in a songwriting session) , he shared a possible idea with me as a starting point for our yet to be written song. I can't even tell you now what it was, but it just felt like a song idea for a younger girl, someone who hadn't experienced as many of the hits and victories of life yet. It felt like it belonged to a girl I hadn't been in a long time. So I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't know...it feels like an idea for someone else...I'm not 18 anymore." He paused and looked at me and said, 'That's it. That's your song. That's what you need to write."

She continues, “I left the session, marinating on what that meant to me. What it meant to be past the innocence of unending youth. How relieved I was to be past it honestly. How much I had learned. How many disappointments and victories I had experienced. How grateful I was to be in a place where I was unapologetically who I am. The lyrics started to come. It was truly the most honest song I had written in a long time. I had written so many of my other songs at this time with fellow writer Kris Bradley, and so I pulled her in at the end as another set of eyes and ears, another woman who had plowed her way through this industry, and we put the finishing touches on it. What came out of this time in my life is a song that comes from my soul, and I've been waiting to share until the right moment. And the right moment is now. I've had the privilege of singing this song both at home based shows and halfway around the world on tour, crying with people in the room as we all feel our way through what it means to not be "18 anymore,” and I am beyond excited to share this piece of my soul now with everyone. Whether you're 25 or 95, I think you can find yourself here, in the lyrics, in the feeling, in the meaning. We can all use a place to celebrate what it means to conquer the ups and downs and life, and come out the other side proud of who we are and where we are."

Check it out below:

Live Review: The Beaches - Mercury Lounge, NYC 10/17/23

Hey all, got a review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here:

It is of The Beaches and The Thing's sold out live show from the Mercury Lounge in NYC on Tuesday night. RtBE reviewed the most recent release, Blame My Ex from The Beaches for Glide Magazine. 

Support the artists, see them live, read the review, and peep some video below:

Dylan Cover #603 Rita Coolidge "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)"

In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's artists, Rita Coolidge doing a cover of "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" 

Thoughts on Original:
From the first time we tackled a cover of this song:
It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. Those are the phrases that Dylan himself used to describe the sound that he wanted on Blonde on Blonde. Safe to say he got it and perhaps never more so than on "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine". That whirling organ that sounds like it may actually take flight, the tempo, the cutting lyric, hot damn this song is a joy. RtBE actually got to see him open a show way back with this one and it was a hoot, not as good as the original, but a gem to see live and hear anytime.

The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the Blonde on Blonde album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up.

Cover:

Thoughts on Cover Artist:
RtBE has showcased Rita Coolidge once before in this series and dig her style. 

Thoughts on Cover:

Coolidge's voice is great, graceful and confidently strong. The music behind her singing is a bit more interesting to these ears. It varies between dorky lounge style and bluesy, upstart honkey-tonking, a weird mix that didn't sit right the first time the cover ran, but got better then more times it spun...an interesting cover and yet another reason this series is so fun to keep doing each week. 

Live Streams: Daze of The Dead - Billy and The Kids

We are now heading into the new normal with live music during the Covid-19 and beyond era. Live shows will need to be flexible and live streaming is a great way to keep music going. Streams have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. Things are (hopefully) improving on the pandemic front but live streams will be an option for artists during the foreseeable future. We will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and as a way to help out the artists. You can check out our weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past and as always, please support the artists any which way you can.

Today is: Daze of The Dead - Billy and The Kids

Nugs.net are providing a Live Stream to subscribers for this weekend's "Daze of The Dead".  Billy and The Kids are playing Tonight and Saturday at The Capitol Theater in Portchester, NY.  

To get in the mood here is some live tunes from Billy and The Kids from Red Rocks in 2021 with special guest Billy Strings.

Full Show Friday: Ryan Bingham - Live in Texas 2016

We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Ryan Bingham!

Some country/Americana from the scratchy voiced Ryan Bingham and his band Live in Texas 2016.

Pro shot, Pro sound, Enjoy:

New Single From The Sleeping Souls, "Weathering The Storm"

Almost exactly a year ago we shared the debut single "Liar/Lover" from the Oxford, England based band. 

Now The Sleeping Souls have shared “Weathering The Storm”, the latest single to be plucked from their debut album ‘Just Before The World Starts Burning’ (out 24 November 2023 via Xtra Mile Recordings).

Credit Lukas Rauch

About the song the band states:

“”Weathering The Storm” is about being caught up in a situation that is completely out of your control. And trying to navigate your way through as best you can. It was written around the time Russia threatened to nuke Ireland and the UK. They had an animation that they showed on Russian TV of it being dropped off the coast of Donegal and obliterating everything — all of this just after I had moved there, of course! The stress of possible nuclear fallout coupled with some personal family struggles at the time helped me imagine an escape to a nearby island where I could survive the fallout.”

Check it out here:

Album Review: Water Machine - Raw Liquid Power EP

Water Machine 

Raw Liquid Power EP

**and1/2 out of *****

The Glasgow based poppy, post-punk outfit, Water Machine's newest EP is punningly titled Raw Liquid Power as the quartet of  Hando Morice (they/them), Flore de Hoog (she/her), Jimmy Gage (he/him) and Goda Ilgauskaitė (she/her) deliver the sonic refreshments.

The group open up with "Water Machine Part II" and the thoughts of proper liquid consumption is front and center as the pulsing synthy jingle strolls out with a plea to "Hydrate/Don't Be Late"; a smart suggestion that does a body good. "Stilettos" follows and it plays quirky and sparse with unique guitar lines, cowbell and backing harmonies that soothe. 

"At The Drive In" discusses the current live music scene over dance ready bass lines, but pushing five minutes goes on a bit too long while EP closer "Bussy" goes in the opposite direction as the punchy poppy punk is fast with a strong bass line and spikey vocals and wraps up the four song EP on an energetic note. 

A quick spin through Water Machine's brief Raw Liquid Power leaves one feeling refreshed as the jangle laden, direct tunes, hit their mark. 

________________

Support the artists, buy the album and peep some video below:

Happy 35th Anniversary to Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation

Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of the best indie rock albums of all time, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation. 

RtBE are huge fans of Sonic Youth (and pretty much everything since their break up) and this is either their first or second best album (RtBE needs to do a ranking of SY's albums). Give it a whirl today and play it loud. 

Peep a few favorite tunes of ours from the album below: