ProtoMartyr - Take Away Show

At first I didn't get that this 7 minute and some odd second video is exactly what it says it is: a take away show. It looked like a video where the band was outdoors, sans electricity and pretending to play their instruments to pre-recorded music. Watch the entire thing though and you see mini amps on the bass and guitar players, you'll notice the drummer working - beautifully I might add - with one drum, and you'll see singer Joe Casey carrying his inflections through onto a very unique performance that just further assures me that, only about two weeks after first discovering Protomartyr they are one of the bands I am most excited about right now.

You Wouldn't Like Thom Yorke When He's Angry...

Holy cow, new music avalanche (more likely I've just had a moment to actually pay attention): Thom Yorke put a track from his new record on Bandcamp. and it's a "name your price" for download folks.

New Erase Errata!

Holy cow, new Erase Errata! It's been quite some time...

I love when a band I really like disappears and kinda fades from my radar - well, I don't love it at first - and then resurfaces unexpectedly with a track this great. It's like finding a sonic $10 in your pocket! New album out in January, though I couldn't find any exact release date or label.

Richard Starkings's Elephantmen...

... is the topic of discussion in this week's edition of Thee Comic Column, over on Joup!

The Pogues - Fairytale of New York live 1988

Best Christmas song ever.

PO'Boy Special - Barely Gettin' By e.p.

Full disclosure: the guitar player/chief songwriter of Po'Boy Special is one of my oldest, dearest friends. But you know, I go so far back with Anthony Barraco that in a way, in the passage of daily life and how it congeals unexpectedly into block of years, decades and then finally, a life, without ever really granting any quarter, well, the Anthony that recorded this record only really overlaps with the Anthony I know a little bit. When we do manage to see each other - once a year at best - we're in catch up, so it wasn't until this past October that I was ever able to relax my trip home a bit and actually see this band - a relatively new band for Anthony - in an intimate practice setting. Not a performance, but a practice, foibles and all. It was amazing, and now that I hear the recorded version of the band I'm really just left speechless. Anthony's not only quite an amazing songwriter but he engineered this at his home on the south side.

Awesome.

The Barely Gettin' By e.p. is available for FREE download on Po'Boy's bandcamp HERE.

You should hear these guys live if you get a chance - they play Double Door, HOB and Hard Rock Cafe on a somewhat consistent basis that seems to only be ramping up. Their cover of Roy Hawkins's The Thrill Is Gone - probably best known performed by, for now, BB King - is just unbelievable.

RIP Joe Cocker

Much respect to Joe Cocker and his passing, even though I will admit, I've never really considered myself a fan. This song though... this song has a special place in my heart. In my single days, when I was a bartender on the South Side of Chicago, I worked with a waitress that will one day be a character in a novel I have half-finished somewhere on my hard drive. She used to like to go out and party after work, and whenever this song came on, well... certain things would follow.

Thanks Joe. Have a blast on the other side.