New single from Hannah Williams and The Tastemakers

Posted: January 30, 2013 in new music
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This limited-edition split 45 is available now (also available as an MP3 download)

This limited-edition split 45 is available now (also available as an MP3 download)

You’ve seen the band on the cover of the January issue of Incognito and you’ve seen the interview our intrepid writer Carin Merritt conducted with Hannah Williams. Well, as part of the Record Kicks (your home for funk and soul) 10th anniversary celebration, you can purchase a new limited-edition split Hannah Williams and The Tastemakers and Susan Cadogan and The Crabs Corporation (“Day After Day”) on the flip side. “I’m a Good Woman” is a cover of a song by Barbara Lynn and if you like some soul in your vocals, you will love this single.

Also to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Record Kicks is offering a free download every month. The song available to download this month is “Time Wasting” by Baby Charles. Loyal reader, if this one doesn’t get you moving, I’m not sure any song will.

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Incognito pick of the week: Natty Nation

Posted: January 30, 2013 in new music
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Live at the UW Terrace is available now

Live at the UW Terrace is available now

No, this is not a band devoted to every middle-American college student’s favorite cheap swill: Natural Light. Natty Nation is a reggae band. Although there is a college tie-in. While Madison might not be the first place you think of when you think of reggae, it’s not unusual to find a reggae band near a college campus. But you didn’t come here to read about cheap beer and demographics.

Unfortunately some bands will refer to themselves as reggae, but when you listen you realize that it’s reggae through a 311 or Sublime  filter. That is not the case with Natty Nation. This is a legitimate reggae band and it’s easy to tell that these guys know their stuff from the funky bass lines to the muted guitars to the message. This is a band that knows how to get its mellow on not only with its good-vibin’ grooves (seven of the 18 songs are longer than 10 minutes), but also with its messages, a lot of which are very much like The Dude. On this album are songs about: meditation, avoiding chasing material things, and stopping violence. No matter what is your stand on gun regulation (no, I won’t delve into that topic), I don’t think it’s out of order to say that between war and civilian shootings too many good people have died needlessly. In any case, this is one of those rare bands that can make you feel good, move, and think all at the same time.

I wonder if Natty Nation thought it was Christmas when it recorded this album and subsequently when it released the album. There aren’t too many bands that give you two hours of music for the low price of $10. Especially not two hours of music that will put you in a good mood like this band does. So get this album (it’s a bargain), then listen to it and enjoy the good vibes.

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Schwindy confidential

Posted: January 29, 2013 in Opinion
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Again I find myself inspired by the lovely and talented Jen and Tonic (You should follow her. She’s funny. Just ask her). Last week, she posted some confessions. Granted, her confessions are a little more personal than mine, but this is a music blog, so I will give you some musical confessions (OK, so revelations is probably a better word) that you probably don’t know about me.

Magic Carpet Ride

No, this is not a story about how I got goofed out of my head at some concert. This is about the first album I ever owned: a cassette of Steppenwolf’s Greatest Hits when I was probably in seventh grade. I’m pretty sure I found it somewhere, like the city bus that I rode to school. Maybe it doesn’t sound like something that would inspire a life of writing about music. And it wasn’t. But it was probably the hippest piece of music in my parents’ house, which tells you everything you need to know about the music my parents had. And to be fair, I did listen to that cassette quite a bit. After all, at the time it was the only cassette I owned.

Jesus, Mary, and… 

It will probably come as a surprise that your humble narrator didn’t go to his first show until he was in college. That’s right. It wasn’t until I was a freshman at The Ohio State University that I attended my first concert: The Jesus and Mary Chain. To be honest, I’m not really sure what compelled me to pick that as my first show. Maybe it was because I was away from home and had some spare time and money. In any case, that was it. The Jesus and Mary Chain at Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio, was my first show.

I had the fever and a concert was…

Pop quiz, loyal reader. If I were to ask you to name some concert that I attended that you would never have expected me to attend, what would it be? No, it wasn’t Morrissey. I don’t have anything like that to confess. However, if you know me at all, you’d probably be surprised to learn that I once attended a concert of The Cure. That’s right. Your humble narrator, who doesn’t like arena shows, and who prefers upbeat feelgood music, saw The Cure at McNichols Arena in Denver. No, I didn’t drive from Ohio to Denver to see the show. I was an intern in Colorado Springs that summer and drove up by myself in my ’88 Ford Taurus to Denver to see The Cure.

That’s it. Those are my musical confessions (for now). I shared mine. It’s only fair that you share yours in a comment.

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Trashy Tuesday: Stupidity

Posted: January 29, 2013 in new music
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photo by Bengt Alm

photo by Bengt Alm

No, loyal reader, I am not making some social commentary there. Stupidity is the name of this band from Stockholm. My first encounter with this band was when I saw it perform right here in southern California with The Love Me Nots at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach. Think about that. I went to the bar to see a band from Arizona and got the added bonus of seeing a cool garage band from Sweden.

Stupidity has a lot of the things I love in a garage band: growled vocals, loud guitars, organ, and short songs that really grab the attention. Just listen to “This Love is For Real.” If that ain’t rock n roll, baby, I don’t know what is. Of course, you could say that about any song on the band’s ReverbNation page. If you were to ask me who this band most reminds me of, I would say Iggy and The Stooges. This is raw rock and roll played with a furious energy that makes it seem like the lives of the band members depends on it.

Really there isn’t much more to say about this. If you like your rock n roll raw and loud, this is a band you need to add to your collection. Just make sure you warm up your arms for all the fist pumping you’re going to do.

Related: The Love Me Nots and Stupidity at Alex’s Bar (Examiner)

Iggy and The Stooges Complete Latest Album (geeksofdoom.com)

Don’t be that girl: crazy dog lady

Posted: January 28, 2013 in Opinion
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What did the dog do to deserve this?

What did the dog do to deserve this?

I know, loyal reader, that you come here expecting to read about music. However, since this is an extension of the magazine, sometimes I like to do things here that could be in the magazine, but haven’t been yet. So without further ado, I give you the initial edition of Don’t Be That Girl.

You see her, but never without her dog. Whether she’s driving or walking, the dog is with her. If she’s driving, the dog is in her lap. If she’s walking (even in the supermarket, etc.), the dog is either in her arms or in some oversized bag.

Then you hear her. She not only talks about her dog as much as some parents talk about their kids. Not only that, she refers to herself as the dog’s “mommy.” You know that she feeds the dog and provides it with a place to live and sleep. But you also know that she is not the dog’s mommy. However, if you bring this up with her, anything you say will fall on deaf ears.

Now, maybe you’re thinking that I forgot one particularly crazy behavior when discussing the whole mommy aspect. No, I didn’t forget that she even provides clothing for her beloved pet. She will try to convince you that the dog is cold and needs to wear a sweater. Never mind that dogs survived for millenia before the first dog was ever forced into something like a sweater just because said dog’s owner thought it would be cute. You want to tell the woman that it’s OK if she doesn’t have or even want kids, but that’s no reason the dog should have to suffer and be forced into an outfit that will make the other dogs laugh. Again, you could say this until you’re blue in the face, but it won’t make any difference.

You know her (probably more than one of her). She is the one who won’t stop talking about her pet. She is crazy dog lady. Don’t be that girl.

‘Billy Monday: King Sick-A-Billy

Posted: January 28, 2013 in new music
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High and Lonesome is available at sickabilly.com

High and Lonesome is available at sickabilly.com

When you go to the download page at Sickabilly.com, you’ll see something about the album High and Lonesome by King Sickabilly and The Full Moon Boys. Namely that this album was recorded in a day “to capture a demo of what is possible with no money or time.” I think lots of bands should learn from this that it’s not necessary (or recommended) to spend months and months in the studio. Get in, knock it out, and move on.

The similarity to Johnny Cash on this album is immediately apparent. Not so much in the vocal quality as the delivery, the themes (faith, murder, etc.), and the rockabilly-influenced melodies. Just like Johnny Cash, King Sickabilly has a deep voice and often sings with a hurt in his voice.

This album also reminds me of Mike Ness’s solo albums, particularly the honky-tonk tune “Before My Evil Explodes.” Like Ness, King Sick-A-Billy. Maybe it’s the delivery and the storytelling aspect. Maybe it’s just that this sounds like a guy who has been through a lot. In any case, something about this album reminds me of Mike Ness.

King Sick-A-Billy was really onto something with the idea of knocking this album out in one day. Somehow the songs are more powerful because they are toned down and performed acoustically. It also helps that the band didn’t spend a lot of time in the studio trying to get the “perfect” take. This album is not only for fans of Johnny Cash and Mike Ness. No, this album is one that every musician should listen to simply to see what can happen when you just record without worrying excessively about the studio production.

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Incognito January trivia contest

Posted: January 28, 2013 in Incognito Contest, Incognito feature
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It’s time again for our monthly trivia contest. Be the first to answer this question correctly in a comment here and win the glass in this photo, signed by our lovely January model Asia Mone’t.

What are two of the albums Glenn Fallows (of The Impellers) would replace first in the event that his collection was wiped out by a great flood?

Win the glass from Asia's shoot

Win the glass from Asia’s shoot

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