Dirtbombs/ Stones covers 45 on Norton

Covering the Stone's "No Expectations" and working in a "Sympathy for the Devil/Hey Jude" fade out is a classic Dirtbomb's moment. So that makes half of this Norton Stones series 45 crucial. They start it off fairly faithful, but then rock it into the above mentioned area. Nice.
The Love Supremes do "Sing this all Together". Never really a fan of the faux "for the people"/hippie pop-psych type Stones tunes that they were dropping during the Satanic Majesties period, but the Love Supremes work in some trippy feedback and MLK samples to deliver an admirable performance.
A series of Stone's cover's seems like a waste of vinyl and time on some level, but the Dirtbombs appearance was enough to make me test the waters and I'm glad I did.


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Cycling Wrap Up

A weird week in cycling. Discovery and Bruyneel made some interesting headlines by one suggesting their new title sponsor may come from Asia and two withdrawing from the AIGCP. It is hard to believe that just 2 years ago this was the Armstrong juggernaut. Did other post Dynasty teams struggle as much? Banesto survived Indurian even if they didn't reach their former heights. I don't know enough to know the fate of Hinault or Merckx's teams, but the decline and desperation of Discovery is amazing. Extremely odd doping/"men in black" reference the other day on cyclingnews.com. This is a sample quote before you jump over the check the whole article. "Gripper said that 'We have information that they train in strange places.'" How strange can a place be where you can still ride your bike? It causes you to think about riders you haven't seen racing in awhile.....
CSC are kicking butt in the tour de Suisse. Thomas Dekker wins a stage and continues to show promise. Route de Sud kicked off today, JP Nazon got the 1st stage. Holland's Ster Elektrotoer (which sounds more like a boat name than a race name to me) stage race has Skil-Shimano's Paul Martens. Back in the States the Nature Valley Grand Prix kicked off with Toyota United's Ivan Stevic getting the win. Fitchburg Longso is coming up next weekend for top level east coast action. Most Euro National Championships are this weekend. Always a fun couple days to track online.
Just finished reading Road Bike Action issue number two and have got to give it props. Of the more recently launched mags (Road, etc) it is the best. Definitely written by and for bike geeks. Good tech and race coverage. Good tips. Reviews are done by people who seem to really ride the bikes. As an added plus it feels like reading, not scolling through bullet points or power point. Rouleur may be the high-end high fashion euro mag, but RB Action will be bringing every month without crushing the budget.
Just in time for the TDF press build up, there will be 2 new doping related books. One by Landis and a second volume(1st in English?) going at Lance. Should be interesting.
And check out this blog. It is hilarious and hopefully keeps up at this pace
Had a less succesful Radler experiment with a summer ale and limeade. Close but no cigar. I will save the limes for the margaritas.

Betti Lavette Do your Duty LP

Sundazed reissues this Betty Lavette LP which was originally part of the SSS, Shelby Singleton record empire via Silver Fox if you are looking for the original. Circa 69/70. 11 songs on this album. Funky southern soul-but with some Detroit grit. Maybe a touch of that classic Tina from the Ike and Tina days. Has a melancholy Billy Preston vibe at times. Don't know who played bass on this but he carries most of the tunes with his melodic style. "At the Mercy of a man" is wicked. She steps right up to Janis and rocks, "Piece of my Heart" possibly the best cover since Keel gave it a go.... I wish she would ask me to "Slip Around" which makes cheating seem like the thing to do. She can keep a slow groove at a simmer and just stretch the heartbreak towards the sublime. Betty has her place among the motor city divas and does more than hold her own of this album. She just dropped an album on ANTI so check it and check for her live.

Diplomats Here's a Heart b/w He's Got You Now 45

Cam,Juelz,Jimmy and the rest of the boys are currently the Diplomats, but they are not the first group of brothers to rock that name. Could this name-jack explain the attack on Cam'ron last year in in DC???
Way back in DC in the early 60s the Diplomats formed and released a double handful of singles before evolving in 73 into the Skull Snaps! Which I guess gives this single some of the mysterious pedigree of the Snaps. That said I don't think this Dipset will get sampled as much as the Skull Snaps. Pretty standard crying in my beer heartbreak fair. Maybe a Drifters kind of vocal group feel. This is their 2nd of 4 singles on Arock records.
Excellent DC area soul discography here.

SST oddities

First off, let me be clear, SST released some of the most influential and important records of the 80s. They get a pass for a lot of missteps and odd releases(Tom T's Dog, Painted Willie,etc).
I guess by the mid 90s they were hurting for sales and seemed to have missed out on the grunge gravy train. So like any good label with an amazing back catalog, they repackaged and "re-released" some classics. Classic LPs came out on colored wax-cool. Who doesn't want colored vinyl? Then some 7"s came out as 10"s... Makes sense if you add some music or something cool, but these were just 3" larger versions. And the 7" versions were still available??? Then there was the oddest of all. The 3" cd version of the classic 7"s. The cool thing about CDs is how much music you can put on them(for example the Post-Mersh V1 and 2 cds to use an SST example)-CDs got the extra sale push by including "bonus tracks",but the 3" CD seems to be some techno-idiot attempt to mimic the 7". Why? What is the benefit? That is why these are so strange to me. Still packed in a plastic long box which dates them even more are these SST classics Paranoid Time, Six Pack, Nervous Breakdown. Nervous Breakdown is one of the finest moments in American musical history and the same can be said of Paranoid Time so they should be available in any and all technological formats that evolve, but this delivery system just seems odd.

Fugazi - Turnover - (Live 1991)

Final Warning PDX CD

The debt of gratitude we owe Ronald Regan will be hard to repay. If he hadn't showed up and polarized America, would US hardcore have ever risen to the heights it achieved in opposition to him? Fear of dieing in a nuclear war and a badly bleached spikey hair cut where all you needed to be an 80s hardcore hero and Portland's Final Warning had that locked down. A major thirst for beer didn't hurt either-especially if you were from Portland.
Not quite as famous as Poison Idea or the Accused, Final Warning rocked out in the same area and faded "into Bolivia".(thanks Iron Mike) Take a helping of the Accused and mix in a lot of Discharge,GBH, and Broken Bones and you will get a feel for the sound. 80s US hardcore-but with a heavy UK influence. 5 studio tracks and a live set make up this limited to a thousand run CD from Southernlord(one of the dudes has Pacific Northwest roots -think Brotherhood or Galleon's Lap though not Sir Mixalot or Mudhoney) "Rain of Death" and "The Bunker" are the standout tracks to me from their only single. "I quit" from a comp single has a more Poison Idea feel and is pretty killer. Sound quality on the live set is surprisingly good. They would have made a good cross over band if they had hung in there.
If you are sick of rocking Crucifix or your other 80s favorites, this is a good re-up to keep it interesting. It is only a matter of time before the nostalgia machine runs out of good things to reissue, but until then this is enjoyable trip down memory lane. GW Bush is easily as fucked up a president as Reagan and things are as bad for the middle class now as they were in 82 so where is the fucking killer disenfranchised youth music? Even a rote hardcore resurrection would be understandalbe and acceptable.

Radler updated

Tested out a Radler this weekend. 12oz Brooklyn Pilsner with about 3-4 ounces Trader Joe's Italian Lemonade. Thumbs up. Drank them after a ride, so I can't comment on the performance enhancing qualitites.

Florida Funk Funk 45s from the Alligator State Comp CD

Funk 45s from the Alligator State. 21 tracks spanning 68-75.Another Jazzman classic. With that wide a time frame, you get all permutations of funk-from a more traditional JB style up through the more spaced out sounds of the 70s and a hint of disco and some heavier guitar work as well.
Florida funk notables Blowfly and Little Beaver are both on here, but it is the unknown soldiers that bring the noise. It opens with a one two punch from New Generation and Pearly Queen. Hard not to get in the groove after that! The Mighty Dogcatchers drop a gem with "it's gonna be a mess(part2)" James Knight and the Butlers drop an track that is just as much southern soul as funk-maybe a Sam and Dave type feel on "Save Me". Carrie Riley drops one for the ladies on "Super Cool" which should be on Funk Soul Sisters 3....
Delray drop a monster groove on "pure funk(part 2)". Some horn driven instro madness. Wilie Johnson is ready to have you "Lay it on Me" on a funky track with a Wilson Pickett feel. "Funky Fast Bump" by the Outlaw gang is some killer Earth,Wind, and Fire style groove-group vocals, horns, etc. Extremely orchestrated and banging. Frankie Seay and the Soul Riders drop a monster with "Soul Food"-it opens with a kind for mournful flute line and then shifts gears. Drums are a Led Zeppelin steady stomp with sax and fuzzed out guitar coming over the top. Lots of drumbreaks to grab. A real bump and grind kind of instro. Complete with guitar solo! Mega rock-funk gem. Third guitar's "Baby don't cry" is another reminder that James Brown influenced funk tracks are always a good thing. Best band name goes to Weston Prim and the Blacklash. Their track "Spider Web" is a another above average instro. Emphasis on the saxophone on this one. The Monterays "Get Down" is pretty much the textbook on "holy grail" obscure funk 45s. Slow groove, plenty of drum breaks, horns, wah wah guitar, and shouts. There are plenty of other tracks on here and this is a comp that won't drift into the sell pile anytime soon.

I would love to drop some info from the liner notes-there are a lot, but they are so fucking small that I can't read them. I could if I got a magnifying glass, but I am not prepared to admit I am that old or blind. So track it down and read it yourself.
At this point you must be saying, "another funk comp"? Is there anything else out there to review? How about some more bad metal or punk? Well as long at these funk comps continue to be the best things coming out, you can expect me to keep talking about them.