Music – Page 2 – Tacky Raccoons

Saturday Matinee – Les Big Byrd, Sue Foley & Big Head Todd and The Monsters

[STROBE WARNING]
Les Big Byrd is something from Stockholm, Sweden. I kept waiting for an eruption of Surfin’ Bird.
“Jocke Åhlund and Frans Johansson have been fixtures in the music business for many years. As central figures in the Stockholm scene, they have played in various formations, traversing a veritable garden of musical genres. In their project Les Big Byrd, space rock and psychedelic pop boldly intertwine with great drive—all while the indie disco ball spins right along with them.” [source]

Sue Foley is amazing. From her bio: “Raised in Ottawa, Canada, Foley was drawn to the guitar at 13 and performing professionally by 16. After relocating to Austin, Texas in her early 20s, she signed with Antone’s Records—home to legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan—and released her 1992 debut, Young Girl Blues, to widespread acclaim. She has since toured internationally and shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, and Billy F Gibbons, earning her place among the top tier of modern blues artists.”

Big Head Todd and The Monsters formed in Colorado in 1986 and consists of Todd Park Mohr / vocals, guitar, keys, sax, harmonica, Brian Nevin /drums, Rob Squires / bass, vocals], and Jeremy Lawton / keyboards, lap pedal/steel guitar, vocals. BHT&TM always have an interesting mix of alt-rock, blues and country.

This weeks news barrage produced a combination of disgust, aggravation, relief and amusement, and they seemed to rotate hourly. There are some good omens in the mix, but I’ll wait until the horizon gets here.
Porch time? Yup. See you tomorrow.

Blesiloquent Hot Links

ASKO Beer, 50 Country Artists (2025) Compilation lifted from There I Ruined It: “I made a song entirely from 50 country artists singing ‘cold beer.'” [Related song here.]

Because internet.

Stop interrupting.

Project Nightengag.

Fact checking Robin.

Amy Stewart’s glass.

Painting the windows.

Tom Waits as a blender.

Jackie Chan’s elephant.

Student loans vs results.

Rik Boa says you look good.

Don’t bring your dog, whitey.

About Industrial Sea-Foam Green.

Jumping Dave [via Everlasting Blört].

How bad was it? [via Thompson, blog].

Now they must cry. Cry, cry, cry.
But why do they cry? [via Memo Of The Air].

[Top image: 7-pack of ASKO Beer created by Grok per my request.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Sergi Estella, The James Hunter Six & The Guy Forsyth Blues Band

A one man band, Sergi Estella studied musical education at the University of Barcelona (2010) and completed the intermediate degree at L’Aula (the Liceu Conservatory of Jazz and Modern Music, 2011). He is known for building his own instruments; he plays guitars made from broom handles, beer cans, or even a wooden box with a tap pouring wine, among others. Following blues aesthetics, his lyrics deal with everyday events and personal experiences, both in Catalan and English, with satirical humor that is also reflected in his stage presence. [Wiki]

The James Hunter Six – James Hunter is a Grammy-nominated soul/R&B singer/songwriter from Essex, England. He began his recording career in 1986, and collaborated with Van Morrison on several records. Good stuff.

Blues legend based in Austin, Texas, Guy Forsyth has a long resume of recording and performing around the world, with many awards to boot. (He’s got a knack for storytelling also, as evidenced in his bio.)

I realized a long time ago that government has a weasel infestation, but I never imagined it mestasizing. A late reckoning is better than none at all. The good news is that The Strait is open again (at least for now) and gas prices should be turning back to normal. Now about those taxes…
Ah, I’m wishing for too much; besides, Porch Time is on tomorrow’s to-do list and we can solve the problems of the world then. See you there.

Dithyrambic Hot Links

She’s Gone to Napoli, Laurel Aitken (1963) Dubbed The Godfather of Ska (and later Boss Skinhead) Cuban-Jamaican Lorenzo “Laurel” Aitken moved to the UK in 1960 and dropped 15 singles before heading back to Jamaica three years later. He returned to the UK in 1970 and continued performing and recording until his death in 2005.

Enshittification.

Not the Artemis.

B&W Back Beach.

Yeeting fish heads.

Nicolas V. Sanchez.

The battle for punk.

A bunch of campers.

G.I. Jive with G.I. Jill.

The Great Wide Open.

Kinetic sand art table.

On drinking and puking.

Space Policy Directive 1.

Tom the Bot threw a hissy.

Hickshit [via Bits & Pieces].

The History of Kit-Cat Klock.

Decompaction [via Thompson, blog].

Hernán Cortés vs “the Noble Savage”.

The Chimpanzee Civil War (with video).

The Strandbeests [via Everlasting Blört].

1928 Ford LM Gypsy Wagon [via Miss Cellanea].

An excellent argument against large data centers.

WWII British home bomb shelters [via Memo Of The Air].

[Top image: A.I. modified 1969 Fiat Abarth 2000 Scorpione found here.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Andy Fairweather Low, Beiztegui & The Hammond Lovers, and El Perro Blanco

Born in 1948 in Ystrad Mynach, Wales, Andy Fairweather Low was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner. He has toured extensively with The Who, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and is a regular member of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings. He currently performs as Andy Fairweather Low & The Low Riders.

Stare at the wall and listen to one of Andalusia’s finest.
Beiztegui & The Hammond Lovers consists of frontman Fernando Beiztegui / guitar & vocals; Jon Sande / Hammond organ; Dani Levy / bass and Cote Calmet / drums.

La Perra Blanco (The White Bitch), aka Alba Blanco, is a high energy blues/rockabilly guitarist from Cádiz, Spain, and has been performing since the age of 14. [More about her here.]

Tax day is just around the corner, weather is on the way, the Artemis is home, and porch time is tomorrow at porch time. See you then.

Dies Paschae Hot Links

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,
The Holmes Brothers (2006) 2006 cover of Elvis Costello‘s 1979 cover of the Brinsley Schwarz/Nick Lowe 1974 song.

Nice bollards.
Tiny Digs Hotel.

Can’t park there.

Apocaloptimism.

A simple majority.

Moeraki Boulders.

Song of the stone.

Pistachio kalimba.

Steve’s very long walk.

Opening Day at Fenway Park.

A collection [via Thompson, blog].

Denver Man [via Everlasting Blört].

What Florida Man did on your birthday.

Beautiful Things [via Memo Of The Air].

Nancy wants to bang the drum all day.
It’s Bad Manners to bang the drum all day.

[Top image: Baby in Carriage Surrounded by Rabbits, Clara Burd, 1926.
Gouache, watercolor and pencil on illustration board, 12”x 14”.

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Andreas Diehlmann Band, The BluesBones & The Zac Schulze Gang

Andreas Diehlmann Band is a German power trio who crank out Texas blues ala ZZ Top, with vocals to match. This video from 2018 features Diehlmann backed by Volker Zeller on bass and Tom Bonn on drums.

Formed in 2011, The BluesBones are an award winning blues rock band from Belgium, and are the only group to hit No. 1 on the Blues Charts UK three times.

Combine the intensity of Meatloaf with the mania of Chris Farley, give him a blazing guitar with a kickass backup band, and you got The Zac Schulze Gang – serious speed blues rock.

Tomorrow’s porchtime has been superceded by Easter, the holiest of Christian holy days. Have a blessed one.

Keratogenic Hot Links

Big Bamboo – King Eric and His Knights (1964)
Live at the Windsor Inne’s [sic] BA-MA Room, the band led by “King” Eric Gibson featured vocalist Frankie Adams. “We didn’t press our album full of hopes and dreams and misty eyes. This record was produced because we were flooded with requests for the music of ‘The Knights’ here at the BA MA.”

Porky’s eruption.

La Mer de France.

Cheap real estate.

2nd hand bubbles.

Big security guard.

Tailgating deterrent.

Skateboard Prehistory.

Free dieselpunk skooter girls.

For the NOsmo KINGS parades.

Minimum wage [via Bits & Pieces].

Telephone for liars [via Nag on the Lake].

Animals eating stuff [via Everlasting Blört].

Atlanta to Minneapolis in 4 hours 39 minutes.

The unrested elderly of Ft. Bragg [via Memo Of The Air].

Don’t scratch an itch with chopsticks [via Thompson, blog].

[Top image: Pepe the Weekender installation by artist Jean Jullien (2018), found here. Photo by Nicole Zezig.]

From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – BALTHVS, KALEO, and Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado

Formed in 2020, BALTHVS is a Colombian psychedelic funk surf latin jazz rock group consisting of Balthazar Aguirre / guitar; Johanna Mercuriana / bass; Santiago Lizcano /drums.

This blues rock indie band formed in 2012 in Reykjavik, Iceland, but KALEO means “the voice” in Hawaiian. After signing with Atlantic records, they relocated to Austin, Texas, in 2015. [More info on Wiki].

Since their beginnings as a Copenhagen bar band, Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado have been dubbed Scandinavia’s premier roots-rock renegades. The septet has performed in Scandinavia, Europe, Canada, the US and Asia for over two decades.

A three day weekend is upon us, with Monday being Unnamed Day due to the recent discovery of Cesar Chavez’ past indiscretions. In celebration, a lot of people nationwide will be hitting the streets, to march around waving signs, chanting Hey Hey Ho Ho mantras and disrupting traffic, all because they’re worried about the US becoming a monarchy or some nonsense. Whatever happens won’t be enough to cancel valuable porch time, so we’ll see you tomorrow at the crack of noon.

Jentacular Hot Links

Underworld, Reg Guest Syndicate (1966)
Pianist, arranger and music director Reg Guest (aka Earl Guest) was Born in Birmingham, England. His album Underworld contains covers of crime/spy/drama themes: “The great Reg Guest captured that inimitable late-60s sound with some irresistible instrumentals which are covers of famous James Bond themes and so on. It was recorded circa 1967 and first released in England on the Fontana label. Instruments used here include an inconceivable 12-string electric bass guitar. An unforgettable sound.”