Category: Saturday Matinee

Saturday Matinee – George Duke & Dweezil Zappa, MonoNeon & skArmy

George Duke showed up to play Zappa’s classic Uncle Remus with Dweezil Zappa‘s band in 2010. (If you like George Duke, this behind the scenes rehearsal from1978 is kinda fun. Jump to 02:50.)

Ignore the clickbait title – it’s a killer groove by MonoNeon. He’s right-handed, but plays left-handed on an upside-down right-handed bass. Dude can cover Zappa, too.

skArmy covers Save Ferris‘s cover of Dexy’s Mightnight Runners‘s Come On Eileen is a good one to wrap it up.

Have a great weekend folks, gonna do something tomorrow.

 

Saturday Matinee – Bendito Machine IV, Görkem Şen, Luna Lee & Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Soundcheck

Very cool oddness. Bendito Machine is a series, and this is No. 6. You are allowed to start from the beginning with Bendito Machine I.

“Yaybahar is an electric-free, totally acoustic instrument designed by Görkem Şen. The vibrations from the strings are transmitted via the coiled springs to the frame drums. These vibrations are turned into sound by the membranes which echo back and forth on the coiled springs. This results in an unique listening experience with an hypnotic surround sound.”

Luna Lee plays ZZ Top’s La Grange on a Gayageum and it works. Her story and more here.

“You know when a long haired dude shows up in a cowboy hat, leopard spotted duster and rattle snake boots some shit is about to go down.”

Name another bluesman whose video of a soundcheck garners 19.4 million views. Having just woken up, he yawns, flicks a booger and then busts it out. Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of a kind.

Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Igorrr, The Wise Guyz, Firebird Trio & Billy Strings

“It feels satisfying that, after all those years on the internet, I still can be wtfed.” -YouTube comment

I don’t know what to make of that, so you’re on your own. Igorrr (aka  Gautier Serre) claims to have synesthesia and perceives music as colors.

Like Ukrainian rockabilly? The Wise Guyz do a damn fine job.

Too hot to handle and too cold to hold, Australia’s Firebird Trio takes the heart of rock and roll and nails it to your forehead.

“Looks 14, sings like a 40 year old and jams like he’s been playing for a hundred years.” -YouTube comment.

William Apostol, aka Billy Strings, was exposed to bluegrass at a young age, and it shows. I’ve got turmoil and tinfoil on my mind these days, too.

Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll figure it all out tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Elise Trouw, Lake Street Dive, Billy Bacon & The Forbidden Pigs

Elise Trouw is kind of amazing – she’s capable on drums, vocals, guitar, piano, bass guitar and synth stuff. Pretty hyno, kind of a Wendy Carlos meets Laurie Anderson meet John Bonham thing.

Lake Street Dive (featuring Rachael Price) on a yellow couch in 2016. Price was born in Australia and grew up in Tennessee. The band formed in Boston, but it’s not clear to me where (or if) they’re anchored.

Billy Bacon & the Forbidden Pigs were a hoot in their heyday. Saw the Pigs in So. Cal in the late ’80s, and they blew me away. Bacon would climb up ON his bass and jam, or take it to the floor for a roll around, and never miss a beat.

There’s something for (almost) everyone in that mix. Have a great weekend, folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow whether you like it or not.

 

 

Saturday Matinee – Erecting Trajan’s Column, The Real McKenzies & Room Full Of Blues

Trajan’s Column: ancient technology animated. Trajan was a good guy, at least as far as Roman emperors go, and was popular for his public works projects. (His cousin Hadrian succeeded him and built a famous wall to keep out Celts, Scots, Picts & other badass tribes.)

Scottish-Canadian band The Real McKenzies. Nice scenery, unfortunate animations, and echoes of the Ramones.

Beyond the best bar band in the world, Roomful of Blues has been performing since 1967 (with an impressive roster).

Have a great weekend, folks. We’ll post some stuff tomorrow.

Saturday Matinee – Asphalt Orchestra, Euphoria Brass Band & Mudcat

Asphalt Orchestra (the ambulatory arm of Bang on a Can) is pretty good, but they’re downright amazing when they pull off Zappa’s Zombie Woof.

Euphoria Brass Band cranks out Sublime’s What I Got at the Tijuana Jazz and Blues Festival 2015. Lotta not-so-subtle influences heard in that jam, and I like it.

“i found a cd of this band in a abandoned ship on the coast of uruguay – montevideo, never heard nothing about this band. really a surprise. grettings. good shit.” [2016 YouTube comment]

The Mudcat Blues Band featuring Danny ‘Mudcat’ Dudeck hails from everywhere, but apparently is anchored in Atlanta. This vid is from 2013, Matildas, Music Under the Pines in Alpharetta, Georgia – jump to 1:34 for Whiskey.

Well that seems to sum up my attitude for today. Have a great weekend folks, don’t worry ’bout the ‘Rona, and do what you wanna do. See you tomorrow for something or other.

Saturday Matinee – Bimpson, Rory Gallagher, Dave Alvin & The Battle Hymn Of The Republic

Bimpson (via). “Some guy taught himself 3D animation during quarantine and the result is this hilariously bizarre blog cartoon called Bimpson.” The comments on the UToobage are pretty good, too.

I just watched this at 2x speed and it’s like a whole new world of Bimpson. Bimpson goes Hyper-Bimpson. Highly recommend.

Well I played it back at 0.25x speed and it’s like a demonic Bimpson. Bimpson goes sacrificial. Whatever you do, don’t watch it repeatedly unless you want Bimpson to put a curse on your crops. It happened to me.

I went .75 and it’s was satanic enough. Every time you lower the speed, it’s like a new circle of hell.

Rory Gallagher “Shin Kicker” live at Montreux 1979.

Nice lineup: Dave Alvin sings 4th of July, with David Hidalgo, Flaco Jimenez, Pete Sears, Max Baca and Los Cenzontles, San Francisco, CA. February 16, 2017.

Happy Independence Day to all, and may this Glorious Country remain free from tyranny forever.

Saturday Matinee – Charlie the Cow & Myles the Deer, Ruth Brown, Little Feat & Alabama Shakes

Don’t ask, just watch.

Ruth Brown kicks it with Rainin’ Teardrops on Show Time at The Apollo (1955).

Little Feat (featuring Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris & Jessie Winchester) doing their 1973 swamp rock classic Dixie Chicken.

[Fun fact: Bassman Roy Estrada, one of the founders of the group, was also a founding member of Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, later played with Captain Beefheart. He’s not performing anymore, won’t be eligible for parole until 2033 because this.]

Nice groove to wrap it up. Alabama Shakes on SNL in 2015.

Have a great weekend, folks, watch out for the black masks, and we’ll be back here tomorrow for some reason.

Saturday Matinee – The Funk Brothers, Procul Harum & Robin Trower

The Funk Brothers were/are a rotating group of session musicians who performed on many Motown classics, including The Contours‘ 1962 hit “Do You Love Me.” This 2002 line up backed Bootsy.

I always liked that song even though nobody knows exactly what Procul Harum was singing about in 1967.

Robin Trower continued his career after leaving Procul Harum, had a nice solo run, and is still performing at 75. Jimmy Dewar‘s vocals always fit.

Have a great weekend, folks, don’t burn down or loot anything, turn in those who do, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for something or other.

Saturday Matinee – The Birds, The Ramones, The Lovell Sisters & The Reverend Horton Heat

The 2nd vid provides the soundtrack for the 1st. View the 1st while listening to the 2nd.

 

The flocking grackles(?) were recorded in a Walmart parking lot somewhere in Texas.

The Ramones covered the Trashmen righteously.
The latter took their name from a 1961 song by Kai Ray (aka Ray Caire) “Trashman’s Blues.”

The Lovell Sisters play roots-country/bluegrass, and that vid is from 2009. 2/3rds of The Lovell Sisters comprise Larkin Poe, and they just released their 5th studio album.

The first recorded (and published) version of “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed” was by Blind Willie Johnson in 1927, but the origins of the hymn are unknown – it may date to 1600s England.

Apparently the Reverend Horton Heat got a Whole New Life in 2018, two full years ahead of the rest of us.

Have a great weekend folks, now that our keepers have generously returned a bit of freedom. I’m gonna get a haircut and eat cheeseburgers, and I dare anyone to stop me. See you back here tomorrow unless the apocalypse is expedited.