album review: A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box

How can you not be interested in a box set whose ad campaign contains this line?:

5 Hours Of Mood-Lowering Music & Video From The Foremost Names In Gloom...



A Life Less Lived: The Gothic Box is an amazingly packaged and pretty well compiled bunch of songs that "that tapped into the antisocial energy of punk but celebrated dark introspection, tempestuous atmospherics and visual panache.".

The set itself is enclosed in a laced leather corset sleeve, and contains a 60 page book including artists' commentaries and photos, and other goodies including instructional pieces on how to run a goth club, and "How To Dance Gothic". Thankfully the producers of this set have a sense of humour, and unlike much of that scene's over the top vampire-earnestness, this collection is more about the enjoyment of the music rather than aiming for "scarier/sadder-than-thou"ness.

Dig the lineup:
Disc 1
1. "Dead Souls" - Joy Division
2. "Charlotte Sometimes" - The Cure
3. "She's In Parties" - Bauhaus
4. "Temple Of Love" - The Sisters Of Mercy
5. "Christian Says" - Tones On Tail
6. "Mutiny In Heaven" - The Birthday Party
7. "Spellbound" - Siouxsie & The Banshees
8. "Fatman" - The Southern Death Cult
9. "Mirror People" - Love And Rockets
10. "Power" - Fields Of The Nephilim
11. "Now I'm Feeling Zombified" - Alien Sex Fiend
12. "Snake Dance" - The March Violets
13. "Walking On Your Hands" - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
14. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" - Specimen
15. "Wasteland" - The Mission (U.K.)
16. "The Grip Of Love" - Ghost Dance
17. "His Box" - Dali's Car

Disc 2
1. "The Weeping Song" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2. "Exterminating Angel" - The Creatures
3. "God's Zoo" - Death Cult
4. "Heartache" - Gene Loves Jezebel
5. "I Go Crazy" - Flesh For Lulu
6. "Cuts You Up" - Peter Murphy
7. "Open Your Eyes" - The Lords Of The New Church
8. "Heaven Is Waiting" - The Danse Society
9. "All My Colours" - Echo & The Bunnymen
10. "Don't Fall" - The Chameleons UK
11. "Dreamland" - The Rose Of Avalanche
12. "Fall" - The Jesus And Mary Chain
13. "Coming Down Fast" - Daniel Ash
14. "Muscoviet Musquito" - Clan Of Xymox
15. "Incubus Succubus II" - Xmal Deutschland
16. "Starblood" - Cranes
17. "Ardera Sempre" - Miranda Sex Garden
18. "Blood Bitch" - Cocteau Twins
19. "The Arcane" - Dead Can Dance

Disc 3
1. "Rain" - The Cult
2. "Away" - The Bolshoi
3. "Watch Without Pain" - Rubicon
4. "Pagan Lovesong" - Virgin Prunes
5. "Morning Dew" - Einstürzende Neubauten
6. "Hamburger Lady" - Throbbing Gristle
7. "To Blame" - Kommunity FK
8. "Melody Lee" - The Damned
9. "Romeo's Distress" - Christian Death
10. "Party Time" - 45 Grave
11. "Kiss" - London After Midnight
12. "Dieche" - Sex Gang Children
13. "Assimilate" - Skinny Puppy
14. "Halloween" - Misfits
15. "Tomorrow's World" - Killing Joke
16. "So What" - Ministry
17. "The Hanging Garden" - AFI

DVD
1. "Lullaby" - The Cure
2. "Bela Lugosi's Dead" - Bauhaus
3. "Lucretia My Reflection" - The Sisters Of Mercy
4. "Moonchild" - Fields Of The Nephilim
5. "Deliverance" - The Mission (U.K.)
6. "Ball Of Confusion" - Love And Rockets
7. "Head On" - The Jesus And Mary Chain
8. "The Killing Moon" - Echo & The Bunnymen
9. "Where The Wild Roses Grow" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
10. "Stigmata" - Ministry
11. "Spiritwalker" (Live) - The Cult
12. "Cities In Dust" - Siouxsie & The Banshees

Though a few of the choices are suspect (Ministry ought to have been left out for the Industrial box we're bound to see someday...Flesh For Lulu? Pure pop for eyeliner people...) there's some real gothy goodness in there. And isn't one of the best things about song collections the debate over who's missing and who shouldn't be there?

The Gothic Box e-card

The Gothic Box listening party stream

The Gothic Box @ Rhino

rbally has some mp3's from The Cure at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, August 17, 1981 here.

album review: My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos: Double Live Album

After releasing four albums that were each more remarkably greater than the last, MMJ has decided to throw all the good stuff into one two-disc live set, and a forthcoming DVD as well.

Although many live albums by bands of MMJ's rootsy style become jammy showcases of guitar wankology, Jim James and company don't really go nuts stretching these songs out beyond their welcome. After all, the best MMJ songs are already epic in their own ways...that live Dead-style jam stuff that other bands do would only dilute the beauty of songs like "One Big Holiday", "I Will Sing You Songs", and the set's closer, "Mahgeetah".

I've actually burned a disc previously of all my favorite MMJ tracks, and I must say that this album is a much more satisfying listen. And thankfully, this album doesn't have the pesky anti-iTunes software on it that kept buyers of their last album Z from enjoying that album's shimmer on their MP3 players and home computers.

My Morning Jacket Area Tour Dates
11/27 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/30 New York, NY - Roseland Ballroom
12/01 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
12/02 Boston, MA - Avalon Ballroom

Macktronic has a complete live My Morning Jacket set from High Sierra this past July here.

extrawack! Song Of The Week: Chad VanGaalen - "Flower Gardens"

I've been totally consumed by this song for about a week now after hearing it on Sirius' "Left Of Center" channel.

It starts out like a cute Postal Service tune, then whacks you in the kidneys with an aluminum softball bat with it's throbbing electro-thrash groove. Be warned...it's catchy as hell.

Chad VanGaalen - "Flower Gardens" mp3 buy

Brandon Flowers' Mustache, Awesome Pastries, and Lounging With The Freaks.

Baltimore was a blast and the Virgin Festival was a ball. Lots of fun stuff to do, reasonable lines for food and drinks, fantastic sound system, and I met tons of really cool folks.

Highlights of the day for me included a guy in a Skeletor costume doing a song & dance routine to Tom Jones' "Delilah" in the "Freak Lounge", spending some time with Wolfmother and Scissor Sisters for work (Ana Matronic couldn't be sweeter...), a stage filled with little kids dancing and rocking-out as VHS Or Beta DJ'd, and finding out our food discount tickets were being accepted for free beer instead.

Oh yeah, the bands all for the most part sounded amazing.

Other comments:

The Who were scary looking but sounded great.

Brandon Flowers' mustache looks ridiculous.

I am SO over Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop in Baltimore's Little Italy rules.

Wolfmother is one of the fiercest live bands in the world.

...and here's a photo of the greatest garbage bin ever, part of a collection of bins decorated by artists in the motif of "John Waters' Baltimore":

Get Yer Hands Up In The Air Baltimore!

I'm headed to Baltimore shortly to work at the Virgin Festival on Saturday for Oxfam America. If you happen to be there, stop by the Make Trade Fair tent and say hello!




Wolfmother - "Woman (extrawack! remix)" mp3 buy

The Big Sleep Record Release Party Tonight & Download

Don't forget that tonight is the record release party for our friends The Big Sleep at Mercury Lounge. Catch them now, so you don't have to fly to Europe to see them at all the big festivals next year.

They were Spin's Band Of The Day yesterday, where we learned this fact:

"Drummer Gabe Rhodes once worked on a cookbook for Dom DeLuise ("Hollywood Squares," Fievel Goes West) and was his personal writing companion."



The Big Sleep - "Murder" mp3

New York Dolls In Hoboken For Free This Sunday Afternoon

The Dolls are playing the The Hoboken Art and Music Fest this Sunday at the un-Dolls-ish time of 4:30 pm.



The show is at the Observer Highway Stage, and will allegedly be a full set.

Get to that stage at 3, and catch Joe Hurley & Rogues March while you are there. I guarantee your enjoyment.




Joe Hurley - "Rock & Roll Suicide (Live @ Loser's Lounge)" mp3

Shoes.

Why do I find this so funny?



Stereolab - "Italian Shoes Continuum" mp3 buy

The extrawack! Bakers Dozen...this week The Whigs, Tom Waits, The Postmarks, Made Out Of Babies, and more.

I spent some time this weekend in Vegas at the insanely fun Hard Rock Hotel. You know you are in the right place when you can play a Munsters slot machine or black jack at a Cheap Trick table while Wolfmother and Led Zep play on the overhead...

I spent some time poolside with the iPod on listening to tons of new stuff, most of which I think you need to hear.

So here's another burned cd's worth of fab tunes...a nice set of tracks to go into the end of the week with:

Girl Talk - “Too Deep” mp3
9/29 New York, NY Irving Plaza
11/2 New York, NY Fanatic CMJ Event

The Whigs - "Technology" mp3

Tom Waits - "Bottom Of The World" mp3

The Blow - "Pile of Gold" mp3
Tue 9/26 - New York, NY @ Sin-e
Fri 11/3 - New York, NY Irving Plaza (CMJ)

The Postmarks - "Goodbye" mp3
11/2 - New York, NY Mo'Pitkins (CMJ)

The Album Leaf - "Always For You" mp3

Tokyo Police Club - "Nature of the Experiment" mp3
9/23 - Studio B Brooklyn, NY
10/18 - Warsaw Brooklyn, NY
11/3 Mercury Lounge New York, NY

The Fix - "Rat Patrol" mp3

Peter and the Wolf - "Safe Travels" mp3
Wed 11/1 - New York, NY Pianos (CMJ)

Bojones - "Harum Scarum" mp3

Vibe Central - "A Flamingo" mp3

Ben Swift - "Grass is Not So Green" mp3

Made out of Babies - "Mr. Prison Shanks" mp3

Another Ash Gig In A Tiny Room!

Back from LA...lots of good stuff to post soon, but this gig announcement rocks me hard...

Ash? For free? And free SoCo? Of course I'm there.

When Janice Dickinson Attacks!

I'm still in L.A., and reeling from watching a dishevelled and make-up-less Janice Dickinson fighting with her boy-toy and making a scene at Tower DVD on Sunset Strip this evening after dinner. Scary stuff. I loved it.

Anyway, just wanted to quickly post this invite...Golden Smog are fun live, and can be only funner at the always fun Rodeo Bar:

I'll Be Drinking Hennessey with Morrissey...

I'm heading to the airport shortly for a week in LA...and as usual before any trip of more than two hours, I'm spending more time making iPod playlists than doing important stuff like packing.

Here's some of the good stuff I've just moved to myPod for the trip:

Daylight's For The Birds - Trouble Everywhere

Imagine a noise-pop band made of equal parts Slowdive, Asobi Seksu, and The Sundays, with direct-band-member-heritage to the late, great On! Air! Library!...that would be these guys. Their brand of sonic haze makes for an atmospheric joyride.

Daylight's For The Birds - "To No One!!" mp3


Rafter - 10 Songs

You know that guy Rafter Roberts from Bunky (maybe you've seen that promo photo of him in bunny ears? Maybe not...). Anyway, when he was not working in one way or another with Bedroom Walls, The Album Leaf, Pinback, The Rapture, and others from the San Diego scene and beyond, he put this humdinger together over the last few years. Featuring bass distorted enough to make the remote dance off your TV tray as well as synth-wash delicate enough to make your weird Enya-fan roommate arch an eyebrow, this album is a happy adventure all the way through.

Rafter - "Bicycle" mp3 buy
Rafter - "My Friend The Crow" mp3


Robert Pollard - Normal Happiness

As a Guided By Voices fan, I'm trained to expect a certain amount of "What The Hell Is That?" on every collection of music Pollard's thumbprint is on. However, this second post-GBV effort is completely solid and without goofyness-for-goofyness'-sake.

At the rate his solo work is progressing, it would appear he's achieving all the good things we all hoped for Paul Westerburg after he chucked The 'Mats into the wind, but couldn't quite grasp. As far as I'm concerned, Pollard is an American musical treasure.

Robert Pollard - "Supernatural Car Lover" mp3 buy

And to put me in a proper Cali state of mind, I've loaded the amazing, amazing, amazing new remaster of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, as well as the PetSounds.com discussion podcast about the classic track "Wouldn't It Be Nice" (mp3).

So that'll keep me foot-tappin' for a few hours hours in the air.

Anyway, I've got some good stuff planned for out there including Club NME at Spaceland with The Tyde, a Black Keys show, a side overnight trip to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, and the topper...me and Mrs. extrawack! have been invited to the Rock Star: Supernova finale Wednesday night. The Missus would like Dilana to win, but she's sure they will pick Lukas (whom she calls "The Lemur King"). Me? I just wanna see Brooke Burke up close.

So if you need me for the next few days, leave a message at the rooftop pool at the Riot Hyatt on The Strip...I'll get it eventually.

BB King's...America's Favorite BBQ And Death Metal Grill!

42nd Street Tourist #1: "BB King would be rolling in his grave if he knew Carnivore was playing his club"

Tourist #2: "Uh, I think he's still alive".

Tourist #1: "Then that oughta kill him".

Ash Playing Surprise NYC Show For Fashion Week

We've just been tipped that Ash and Foreign Islands will be playing a Return To New York gig at Happy Valley next Sunday night in conjunction with Fashion Week.

Presented by beats legend Arthur Baker and designers Felder Felder, I believe this is the first live gig for Ash since Charlotte Hatherley left the band in January. Remaining members Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton, and Rick McMurray have been in and out of NYC recently recording a new album.

The show will also feature a ton of guest DJ's from NYC's dance heyday playing their favorite five tracks, including Chris Franz & Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads & Tom Tom Club, Fab Five Freddy, Alan Vega of Suicide, Jellybean Benitez, Wendy James of Transvision Vamp (and now Racine), and Lady Miss Kier of Deee-Lite.

Ash - "Shining Light" mp3 buy

Foreign Islands - "Fine Dining With The Future" mp3 buy
Foreign Islands - "Ghost Story" mp3 buy

album review: Evangelicals - So Gone

Evangelicals - So Gone

Tired of music that sounds like marketing scientists pieced it together in a lab in front of a focus group? This album sounds like its makers bought a case of cheap beer, set up some recording equipment, and let 'er rip.

Chock full of pretensionless and fun pop-rock songs, these Norman, OK swingers play with the abandon and earnestness that has been missing from recent releases by their homies The Flaming Lips recently.

Straight through, this album is a little trippy, a little groovy, and a whole lot of fun.

I'm told they are pretty compelling live, and now that I see that they are playing out this month with Serena Maneesh (who are insanely great live), I guess I've got no choice but to check them out.

09/02/06 Birmingham AL - Bottle Tree Cafe
09/07/06 Washington DC - Warehouse Next Door
09/08/06 New York NY - Bowery Ballroom w/ Serena Maneesh
09/09/06 Wellesley MA - Wellesley College w/ Serena Maneesh
09/10/06 Boston MA - The Middle East w/ Serena Maneesh
09/12/06 Montreal QC - Main Hall w/ Serena Maneesh
09/13/06 Toronto ON - Lee’s Palace w/ Serena Maneesh
09/14/06 Detroit MI - Magic Stick w/ Serena Maneesh
09/15/06 Chicago IL - Logan Square w/ Serena Maneesh
09/16/06 Minneapolis MN - 7th St. Entry w/ Serena Maneesh
09/22/06 Pomona CA - Glass House w/ Serena Maneesh
09/27/06 Lawrence KS - Bottleneck w/ Serena Maneesh
09/30/06 Houston TX - Proletariat w/ Serena Maneesh
10/01/06 New Orleans LA - Republic w/ Serena Maneesh
10/02/06 Atlanta GA - Drunken Unicorn w/ Serena Maneesh
10/03/06 Carboro NC - Cat's Cradle w/ Serena Maneesh
10/04/06 Falls Chruch VA - State Theatre w/ Serena Maneesh

Evangelicals - "Here Comes Trouble" mp3
Evangelicals - "Another Day (And Yoor Still Knocked Out)" mp3