BARREIRO ROCKS 2007 LUCKs AND REDUXE -- DAY 2 - NOVEMBER 10 2007

DAY 2 of the Festival saw us somewhat battered from Day 1 but ready to fight again... I didn't make it into Lisbon as I had planned (duh.. went to bed at 8am!) but we socked away some serious chocos fritos (fried cuttlefish) and got ready to dance.

Night 2 opened with a replacement band-- Madrid's Tres Delicias cancelled due to a broken arm... which sucked. Very disappointed to have once again missed this great band who are apparently greater live. What we got was Madrileno/Iberian garagepunk scene veteran Capitan Entresijos with some help from Nacho (sax player from Los Chicos). It was OK, but 40 minutes of this was a bit long... Also it's better in a club (as I witnessed in Madrid back in '05).

Next came Green Machine, a Portuguese band who played the afterparty last year (and were fantastic). The good news is they broke it open with the lead singer jumping down into the audience (FINALLY! it took getting to the second day for someone to bring it to us). The bad news is the Lisbonsensian audience was a bit lame/stuffy for this rock assault. Also, again, I harp, but really, 40-45 minutes was too long.Then we had the Mojomatics from Italy. I had been getting into their records anyway, but wow. Here was a band that pretty much managed to master the 40-45 minute set, who have the song chops in spades, who rival even the Reigning Sound's gift for 60's pop made modern. Neat drumming and great vocals and Scotty Moore-inflected guitar playing. Absolutely fantastic. Have to get them to NYC!
Despite some of the usual craziness (missed flight/lost passport) the Black Lips rolled in around 1AM to play their second, and amazingly, their BEST show at the festival yet. With no time for a soundcheck, they jammed on some pebbles/blues nugget at the opening and quickly got a feel for the sound on the stage. When they started their next song, it was a ton of bricks in our faces... everything firing on all thrusters, sound was PERFECT. Grown, hell, even old Portuguese men pogoing.//The singalong to Katrina seemed to shock even the band, who had debuted the song on the tour that included Barreiro Rocks back in 2005. Set favorite for me was Lean, leadoff track on the new album, a song I didn't care about until this performance... which made it my favorite song ever. Also they slotted in a cover of "Too Much Monkey Business" -- a reference to the only Portuguese group ever featured on Pebbles (The Satins) ?! Maybe method to the madness.

The mood of the festival at this point was pretty explosive (in the good way)... which was perfect for a) my DJing, which bizarrely drew some people I hadn't seen since the good/bad old days of mucking around Iberia as the Hey!Pachuco tour DJ in '04 and '05... and b) the double onslaught of afterparty bands to come including the best band of the festival, LOS CHICOS, unleashing songs from their new album "Launching Rockets" (on London's Dirty Water records)... as well as established favorites... this band has always been a no-fail perfect party but this year the stakes were raised to theatrical and emotional highs I for one haven't experienced at more than 2 or 3 shows all year long...
I'm not sure what singer Rafa (above) does in the daylight hours, but if it's anything like what he does onstage he must be a union organizer, pentecostal priest, rodeo announcer or outerspace explorer. Such were the poses and energy thrown into the mix by this always fascinating frontman. He's never really over the top, screaming or freaking out, although he has the odd habit of climbing to the tops of the speaker towers... you just can't take your eyes off of this character. That said, perfectly loose/tight rhythm section including the machine called Pina, plus the Mackay-like Saxophone squawks of Nacho... what more can I say? This is one of the two or three greatest bands out there in the world today...

After Los Chicos, The Professor (aka Patrick Keegan) took over on the DJing and delivered the nuggets we needed to recuperate before the emotional and needed Act-Ups show. This Barreiro band includes the two guys most responsible for the organization of the festival... they are also one of my favorite bands and delivered a heavy and hardrockin' set of their Dirtbombs-goes-heavy sound... even Ian St. Pe sang out of deference on set opener Land of a Thousand Dances... other highlights included stuff from 2006's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, old favorite Chicken Soup and a pretty interesting (and MUST TO RECORD, hint! hint!) version of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up (the LONG version with the drum breakdown, thanks to drummer Pistol Pete's rata-tat-tat...!

Finally Los Chicos rejoined the fray and it was impossible to tell who WASN'T in the band... "brothers from different mothers."
Then, the Hipshakes, present all weekend long, attempted to mount a second set to top Friday's show and began shaking it out... it was headed for inevitable success when... THE PLUG WAS PULLED by some city officials... what can you say? I guess the security guards wanted to go home.... it was 7 AM, what can you do?

Check out all of my youtube clips here...

And links to my pics on flickr... also more pics below.

See ya next year BRR ROX!


MOJOMATICS
THE BLACK LIPS
LOS CHICOS!

BARREIRO ROCKS 2007 LUCKs AND REDUXE -- DAY 1 - NOVEMBER 9 2007

Gonna kick off a spate of (probably short-lived) energy on this blog with my annual review of my annual trip to the (surprise!) annual garage rock festival of the majestic kingdom (actually republic) of portugal: BARREIRO ROCKS! This year was subtitled "The Year of Dementia" and I think it pretty much lived up to that.

Day 1, November 9th, saw a steady but somewhat subdued start (why so alliterative on a sunday?) to the festival... Portugal's Born a Lion threatened to impress but never quite did, bringing flashy 70's/Who-ish powerchords and a singing drummer... comparisons to Johnny Cash were quickly snuffed out-- this was major label 70's rock for longhairs. Not terrible, but in the end, not particularly interesting. One exception was when the guitarist laid his instrument flat for what seemed to be sound pretty hot slide play but unfortunately sound/technical issues defeated their moment.

Next were UK's Hipshakes, who I had seen before in Brooklyn (at Don Pedro!)... again a good set, although the distance from the audience was a bit of a drag... still, many Barreiro regulars claimed this as their first or second favorite band this year.

After that we had Samesugas, who wowed us last year in the after party with their very tight Social Distortion/70's pub punk sound... this year not quite as good but it was down to two simple reasons: 1. proximity -- this is the kind of band you need to see in a club, up front, in your face. 2. set length -- 40-45 minutes was a bit too long for this sound... 30 minutes would have been great. That said, I do still like these guys. And they brought some crazy absinthe that turned out was (not) a good mix with the Polish vodka we were rolling with... parking lot drinking party. i know i worsened my cold at this point in the night, but. worth it.

Headliners of the night, the Maharajas (Sweden), were a soberer (?) bunch, but were 100% pro. Melodies, playing, and I have to emphasize here, the SINGING, were fantastic. Classic 60's pop made to sound modern/timeless... very gifted, very watchable. My only complaint being that there's not much of a show going on here visually, but you can't fault anything else about this band...

I should mention that throughout, the master of ceremonies, host, clown, etc. of the festival, Crooner Vieira, brought his whimsical takes on everything from Sinatra to Tom Jones. It's hard to explain what Vieira is all about, so take a look at this youtube clip of the man doing a Nelson Ned tribute of sorts (right before the Maharajas' encore).

Crooner sang on as gears were switched and a second 'stage' was set up on the floor of Ferroviarios hall for the much-anticipated afterparty. First up was one of my favorite bands this year, Tracy Lee Summer. A new (and YOUNG) band from Barreiro, with some members from a pop/punk group of yesteryear called A New Hope, at this, their fourth (?) show ever, they seemed to find their voice & sound. This is down'n'dirty punk screaming, but you gotta love it. Check out my short video of the boys here. All I can say is, WHERE'S MY 7" at?!

The last band of the night was Rob K & Uncle Butcher, a US/Brazilian two piece who played one hell of a show. Ex-Workdog Rob has the charlatan/preacher/soulman thing down and Marco's punchy drumming and screams recall the best of other two-pieces (insert inevitable King Khan/BBQ reference here). But why should I say more? Yet another youtube clip.

So... 'round about 5 in the A M, we shuffled out to collapse in various flop houses. Naturally I did no such healthy/normal/smart thing and was up 'til 7 filming the historic meeting of Senator Jimmi Smith & Fast Eddie Nelson. That can wait for another blog post.

BORN A LION

HIPSHAKES
SAMESUGAS
MAHARAJASTRACY LEE SUMMERROB K & UNCLE BUTCHER

10 Pieces of Proof that I'm Incredibly Lazy...

#10. Haven't updated the movies section on two myspace pages since the summer.
#9. don't own any winter clothes...
#8. haven't read a book start to finish since 2002.
#7. keep talking about tshirts but haven't produced them yet.
#6. haven't booked several bands that I've been promising slots for months.
#5. it's 6pm on Sunday and I've been outside once today to get a bagel and a gatorade.
#4. haven't updated this blog since... MARCH?!
#3. not even going to finish this list.

WORLD OF SHIMMY: MARCH ROUNDUP !

WORLD OF SHIMMY: What's Happ'nin' !
Roundup of recent events:

16.March.2007 saw the first (and last***) Shindig Night at Matchless in Brooklyn ! Despite sub-zero temperatures and a storm blowing ice (!) we had quite a crowd. Aarktica kicked it off with moody indie rock which sounds a bit like Interpol's quieter moments with some freeform (almost free jazz) sections interspersed. Twenty Minutes to Vegas broke it open with a whirlwind set of fiery punk gusto, The Miscreants brought the classic sound of old school garage with great organ sounds and a terrific lead vocalist who can do the ballads as well as the rockers! Finally the Shalitas got the crowd really dancing with their modern vs. classic girl group sound, including their Motown medley as well as other great covers and originals. Great night! DJing went on until well past four in the morning. That's called a success!

My weekly podcasts have rolled on... #5 was posted (a day late) yesterday... you can see (and hear) the full catalogue now at http://thecalicowall.com/podcasts/podcasts.html

28.March.2007 The Shaydes played the Trash Bar for the first time in support of Full Tank... great show (despite missed tunings) and remarkably clear sound. It just gets better.

Upcoming Madness:

28.April.07 is the next night at Matchless for garage and soul-- ***now called HULLABALOO, you can be our friend at http://www.myspace.com/hullabaloonyc -- schedule as of now is:

9:00 DOORS
9:30 BAND TBA
10:30 SHALITAS -- Brooklyn/Philly-infused Girl Group SOUL !
11:30 BRIAN WILSON SHOCK TREATMENT -- Greenpoint's only true Garage/Psych band-- think Syd Barrett meets the MC5 ! (Did I mention FUZZ?!)
+ my fabulous DJing all night (and guest DJs!)

26.May.07 is HULLABALOO #3 at Matchless -- I'm happy to announce that we have the HALL MONITORS, who I recently saw in Bushwick and were amazing, coming up from Baltimore to do our show... very exciting! As always, faithful hellcats the Shalitas will support and myself and other DJs will guide us into 4 am...

More dates on the way... stay hep to the beat and keep it fresh!

SHIMMY WORLD UPDATE

1. This week's podcast is now available at http://thecalicowall.com/podcasts/podcasts.html -- it might make you hungry... for vinyl, of course.

2. Last night saw yours truly & 3/4ths of the Shaydes (plus guests) pay another visit to the always fun Don Pedro's in Bushwick for a night of garage !

We got there only to catch half of openers the Hall Monitors' (DC) set-- what a great band though, probably my favorite. (hall monitors above in blurry samsung cameraphone debacle)

Next up was Wellington Ladies Welfare (Brooklyn) ... or something. Not my cup of tea, gentlemen, I could've written the script for this show, it was pretty predictable pantomime of johnny rotten/lydon/pistols/PIL/etc. Why they were booked for this night is a bit of a mystery.

the Bloody Hollies (San Diego) quickly swept them away however with a coffin-nail tight set of 70's garage rock meets early Zeppelin / White Stripes blues rock swagger. Absolutely great ! Slide-playing on the opening song was a definite highlight.

Lastly, Live Fast Die ! were sloppy but fun noisy rockers. Perfect for the twist party!

NOTE TO DON PEDRO'S / GARAGE BOOKERS : MORE SHOWS HERE, PLEASE! (bloody hollies)

NEWSFLASH - RADIO SHIMMY PODCAST // FIRST SHINDIG GIG AT MATCHLESS !

NEWS FLASH !

First of all, my podcasts have finally begun !

The first installment takes a trip on the railroad from rockabilly to progressive jazz/folk... you can find this and all future podcasts here: http://thecalicowall.com/podcasts/podcasts.html

Second of all, THE SHINDIG, a night of bands and DJing, will kick off with our first date at Matchless in Brooklyn on 16.March (FRIDAY)... the Lineup will be:

8:00 DOORS

8:30 AARKTICA (acoustic) - indie

9:30 TWENTY MINUTES TO VEGAS - oklahoma city rockers transplanted to brooklyn make their northern debut!

10:30 the MISCREANTS - jersey garage kings make their first williamsburg appearance !

11:30 the SHALITAS - girl group soul, philly/brooklyn style !

plus my wonderful DJing all night-- garage, punk, soul, funk, psych & more !

Matchless - 557 Manhattan Ave @ Driggs Ave (across from Enid's) -- Williamsburg/Brooklyn...

DIRTBOMBS BLOW OUT BROOKLYN & NEW MYSTERY 45s!

First of all, Saturday I got to see the Dirtbombs return to the area for a great show at Southpaw in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

We purposely stayed away from the openers (who we've seen too many times already) but got there in time to be in the last 5 people let into this packed, sold-out show.

The sound was excellent and set was tight. Mostly stuff from Ultraglide in Black and well as the b-sides disc of a couple of years ago, with a great cover version of the Velvet Underground's 'Heard Her Call My Name' thrown in. Two short encores showed us just how on the band were and how happy they seemed to be playing for us! Definitely better than this Summer's gig at at Maxwell's in Hoboken... now a new record, please ?

---

Secondly, 5 more mystery 45s have been posted to my website-- instrumental rock'n'roll, tough urban funk, white r'n'b, Mexican pop-psych and protest beat !

http://thecalicowall.com/45s/mystery45s.html

I have promised to post new 45s every day this week, so check back often !

THE VAULT IS OPEN !

Yes! It's true! After years of collecting all sorts of vinyl minutia, I've put together a recording setup to release my analogue goodies in digital format.The first four new pages on obscure 45s are done and can be seen here:

http://www.thecalicowall.com/45s/mystery45s.html

The SECOND piece of good news that you can add some of these classy and ultra obscure tunes to your Myspace page--

check out my dump page at: http://www.myspace.com/shimmygrooves -- currently available are Jenks "Tex" Carman's early 50's novelty banjo hit, "Hillbilly Hula", the Soul Brothers great rhythm'n'blues track "Please Pass the Ketchup" (early 60's), the Dimensions' white r'n'b take on "Fannie Mae" and the Chubokos/Afrique track "House of Rising Funk" ('73).

The THIRD piece of good news is that my podcast is coming soon... probably end of February.

The FOURTH piece of good news is that the first SHINDIG night, featuring the Brian Wilson Shock Treatment, the Shalitas and myself DJing, will most likely occur late March/early April in Brooklyn... stay tuned...!

DJ Shimmy Goes West - Setlist 26.January.07

My first night of 2007 was a very, very cold one (20 degrees !) so I had it to warm up it with goodies mostly from my Holiday jaunt to the South...

The first few here are in order...

Mighty Baby - Egyptian Tomb (from CD) -- amazing opening track from this otherwise mediocre album-- this is the band that was The Action...

Nilsson - Jump Into the Fire - Nilsson Schmilsson - RCA Victor LSP-4515 -- picked this up at a thrift store in North Charleston, SC. Great pounding rock track. Klaus Voormann (German friend of the Beatles...) on bass.

Bob Seger - Bo Diddley/Who Do You Love - Smokin' OPs - Palladium/Reprise MS 2109 -- Great long medley of two Bo Diddley covers given Seger's classic hard rock treatment.

Stephen Stills - Song of Love - Manassas - Atlantic SD2-903 -- Great slide playing on this track and decent vocals, too. The record as a whole is inconsistent but worth it for a few tracks and the backing of 70's session players like Dallas Taylor (drums) and Joe Lala (bongo, other percussion).

Salem Travelers - Tell It Like It Is - same - Checker LPS-10052 -- Amazing uptempo gospel soul/funk from Chicago. The whole LP is worth it!

Standells - Dirty Water - same LP - Tower T 5027
The Chob - Fortune Teller - EP LP Vol 1. - Raven RVLP-05
Bobby Womack - Daylight - Safety Zone - UA-LA544-G

Sam Cooke - Twistin' The Night Away - Live at the Harlem Square Club 1963 - RCA Victor AFL1-5181 -- Finally have this on vinyl. Great party music!

Kingsmen - Little Latin Lupe Lu - Volume 2 - Wand 659 -- Pretty good version, actually.

Jean Knight - Do Me - Stax of Funk/The Funky Truth - Stax/Fantasy reissue
Johnny Burnette The Rock'n'Roll Trio - Rock Therapy - Tear It Up -
Solid Smoke SS-8001
Kenny Price - Big Daddy - The Sheriff of Boone County - RCA Victor LSP-4527
Sky Saxon Blues Band/Seeds - Creepin' About - A Full Spoon of Seedy
Blues - GNP 2040
Love - Hey Joe - S/T - Elektra EKS-74001
Long Ryders - Looking for Lewis and Clark - State of Our Union - Island 90459
New York Dolls - Personality Crisis - Mercury Reissue

Maxine Weldon - Grits ain't Groceries (All Around the World) - Right On - MRL 319 -- a Little Milton song? That's what someone came up and told me.. whatever, great funky soul!

Charlie Rich - Lonely Weekends - Fully Realized - Mercury SRM-2-7505

Neil Young - Hold Back the Tears - American Stars'n'Bars - Reprise MSK 2261 -- part of the late-night set, this is a weeper from Neil's more country phase in the late 70's, featuring Emmylou Harris & Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals...

Chambers Brothers - All Strung Out Over You - The Time Has Come - Columbia CS 2722
Drifters - Save the Last Dance for Me - The Best Of... Up On The Roof - Atlantic 8073
Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid OST - Columbia KC 32460
Beatles - In My Life - Rubber Soul - Reissue

Major Lance - Just One Look - The Monkey Time - Okeh OKM 12105 Not his hit, but a great version. This whole (MONO!!!) LP is absolutely fantastic. Lance has a totally unique delivery, the only thing anywhere near is Curtis Mayfield (who wrote many of these tunes).

Alice Cooper - Eighteen - Love It To Death - Straight/Reprise WS 1883 Just a great rock track, which references the Animals ("I GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE!!") and sounds not a little bit like Iggy Pop.

Jazz Crusaders - Thank You (Falettinme Be micelf agin) - Old Socks New
Shoes... Chisa C5804
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run - same - BL 33795

Jerry Reed - She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft - Rowdy Country - K-Tel WU 3680 What can you say about divorce drama like this? Country Gold !

Dr. John - Right Place, Wrong Time - same - Atlantic SMAS 95100

*** SINGLES ***

Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine ...
Ballyhoos - Ballyhoo Riot - Hey!Pachuco
New Lou Reeds - Lookin' for a Boogaloo

Show Stoppers - Ain't Nothing But a House Party - Beacon 3-100 (UK) - Had this for a long time, but this is the first outing for this interesting Northern Soul (pop hit) record from '66.

Abaco Dream (see earlier post)...
Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff - Stax STA-0088
Nancy Sinatra - These Boots are Made for Walkin'
Count Five - Psychotic Reaction - Double shot 104
Sonics - You Got Your Head On Backwards
Los In - El Septimo Hijo - CBS
Eddie and the Showmen - Squad Car - Liberty...
Little Richard - Slippin' and Slidin' Specialty SP-572

Johnny Jenkins - I Walk On Guilded Splinters - Capricorn C-8000 Great, strange blues/rock track with backing by the Allman Brothers... Georgia.

Temptations - Get Ready (Motown Yesteryear)
Velvet Underground - Inside Your Heart - White Heat Bootleg 7"
Meters - Cissy Strut - Josie 45-1005
Soul Survivors - Hey Gyp - Crimson CR-1010
Tony Joe White - Groupy Girl - Monument (FR) SN-20.362
Chick Willis - Stoop Down Baby - La Val LV 871

Jimmy McCracklin - What's Going On - Minit 32064 -- Great funk with Jimmy McCracklin not sounding unlike a funky version of Jimmy Reed !

Bobby Byrd - If You Don't Work You Can't Eat King 45-6342

Dorothy Moore - Here It Is - Malaco - M 1029 -- 1975, Amazingly funky soul.. Mississippi singer.

Creative Funk - Moving World - Creative Funk 12001 - Liking this GEMM purchase more and more... obscure instrumental funk from around '70 ?

Staple Singers - Love Is Plentiful - Stax STA-0083
Roy Orbison - Working For the Man - Monument reissue
Hollywood Argyles - Alley Oop - Goldisc reissue
Fats Domino - My Girl Josephine - Imperial 5704
Clarence Henry - Ain't Got No Home - Argo 5259
Shirelles - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - Scepter 1211
Betty Smith Group - Hand Jive - London 45-1787
Waylon Jennings - Ramblin' Man
Jerry Reed - When You're Hot You're Hot - RCA Victor 47-9976
Johnny Cash - Hey Porter - Sun reissue

100 Proof (Aged in Soul) - Somebody's Been Sleeping - Hot Wax HS 7004 One of the few soul records on Hot Wax of interest (that I've encountered, at least...)

John Edwards - Careful Man - Aqare AW-043 - Great Georgia Soul!

Arthur Conley - Whole Lotta Woman - Atlantic (ES) H-236 - He of "Sweet Soul Music" fame, I used to write him off as a Sam Cooke-a-like, but he's got something...

Mar-Keys - Last Night - Satellite S-107
Sonny Terry - Ride and Roll - Groove 4G-0135
Beacon Street Union - Speed Kills - MGM K 13865
Betty Lavette - Heart of Gold - ATCO 45-6891
Beatles - Baby You're a Rich Man - Parlophone PDP 5082

Eagles - Take It Easy - Asylum AS-1100 -- Guilty Pleasure. I got something thrown at me for this.

Fatback Band - Double Dutch - Spring SP 171 Good late funk.

Kurtis Blow - The Breaks - Mercury (PT) 6167 964 Yes, early rap! It sounds like, and is, a party.

See you next time (24 FEBRUARY 2007 @ MATCHLESS !)

Live Roundup: 2 Shows at Europa in January

Quick Recap on two good shows @ Europa (in Greenpoint) in January... If you haven't been there, it's a remarkably good venue, spacious bar (away from the stage), dance floor, great (!) sound (can't say that often enough)...

first up was:
11.January.07 -- Asteroid No. 4, Vandelles, A Place to Bury Strangers ...

Asteroid No. 4 (above) are a terrific psych pop/rock band from Philly, kind of Spacemen 3 meets Brian Jonestown, but better than that actually. Even better live than on record, an amazing band!

Unfortunately they played early on (could've seen that set go on for another hour or so!) ... next up was the Vandelles (above), who sound pretty much exactly like the Raveonettes (DK) did on their debut EP release. I mean exactly! So it was good, but felt somewhat derivative.

A Place to Bury Strangers was the local (and top billed band) and they were OK, but nothing too memorable (or I'd tell you about it!)

31.January.07 -- TK Webb, Goddamn Rattlesnake, O'Death ...

Opening was a talented solo singer but I was at the bar and missed most of her stuff. TK Webb was solo this time, and while it was enjoyable, definitely missed the band on this stuff. 'Rattlesnake' were kind of a redneck rave-up band with low, ornery vocals. Fun but every song was the same. O'Death was about exactly what they've been billed as: fun & raucous hoedown music for kids to dance to. I did the same and it was good.

Yes, I too have no idea what my camera phone did here, but it looks exactly like my head felt the next morning...