Author: Shan

Artist, writer, music freak. www.sistersdissonance.com www.shanspykerauthor.com

“Stuck on the Other Side of the Ocean” Pt 2: Drunken Balordi

DRUNKEN BALORDI | bio

This coming Saturday Drunken Balordi, another band that I’ve recently discovered and am really enjoying lately, will be having a grand old time at Clapham Junction in London at the release party for their first album. (I’ll be stuck here while that is happening, but I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on a copy once it’s out and about and available.)

I’ve got an interview in progress with lead singer and guitarist Billy King, so a more in depth post dedicated to Drunken Balordi is forthcoming but for now you can give them a listen here.

And watch here:

Update: full interview with Billy King can be found here in the post, I soliti drunken balordi!

“Stuck on the Other Side of the Ocean” Pt 1: The Penny Black Remedy

THE PENNY BLACK REMEDY | bio

From top left: Marijana Hajdarhodzic (vocals/percussion), Steve Nelson (bass), Wilco van Eijk (drums), Keith Thomson (vocals/guitars/song-writing duties)

The Penny Black Remedy (Balkan/gypsy/punk/juggernauts that they are!) fast became one of my favorites last year. I have been cheering them on from over here for awhile now, privy to their live shows and goings-on that they’ve been up to lately (a lot) over in the London area and other parts of the UK and Europe. I’ve also come to learn very recently through my dear friend Steve (who looks suspiciously similar to TPBR’s bass player) the exciting news that they will be playing several music festivals this summer, one of which is a recently confirmed date at Glastonbury!

To celebrate this news, TPBR have just released their 2nd single, and it is available as a free download via their website, now through June 27th.

The single, “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money,” includes a b-side—you have to pretend the download has a second side to it, ok?—a brand new song titled “You Look Funny When You Think,” which I just heard for the first time earlier today. It’s a great acoustic track with Marijana Hajdarhodzic on lead vocals (what an amazing voice). The download comes as a zipped file (it also contains hi res artwork of the single cover, and a signed lyric sheet) and you can select among different file types (.mp3, flac, AAC) depending on how discerning your ears are.

To download the single they only ask that you sign up for their mailing list, a very fair trade in my opinion, and they also allow you the option to unsubscribe if you wish, but trust me, Keith’s email updates are among some of the funniest things I have ever read, you won’t want to unsubscribe.

If you enjoy “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money” you need to check out the rest of the album, No One’s Fault But Your Own. It’s an incredibly infectious collection of songs full of wit and dark humor, and you can listen to in its entirety via stream and purchase from their website here rather than just me talking about it, so stop listening to me and get on over there!

Wait! Before you go, they have also sent out into the wilds a new video to go with the “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money” single, and you can view it on their site along with other videos, and also right here:

Wait again, there’s still more! You should also check out this great article about the launch party for the single from Clink Magazine, a review with some great photos of the show.

Downside: I’m stuck all the way on the other side of the ocean and I’ll be missing all the fun (but cheering from afar!)

The photography of Wheelz Wheeler, and the power of social media

One of the intents of this blog when I first started it was to provide a place to share not only my own creative output, but that of my friends, from people I have known for ages to the people I have had the pleasure of meeting along the way, both near and afar. With the rise of the intertubes comes the wonderful opportunity to meet those that normally one would not have had otherwise. Back in the day when I started my very first music ‘zine at the tender age of 12, I discovered how powerful it is to connect with others who are like minded, though the tools were rough then. I remember taking an ad out in a teeny bop magazine for a few bucks, and ending up with over 200 subscribers, mostly girls of roughly the same age with the same interests. We formed our own little community and I was thrilled to have that many new pen pals to boot.

Mick Jones' Rock n Roll Public Library at Chelsea Space (Photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Now here we are in the age of the computer, and I find myself doing the exact same thing, except now on a larger scope. Via a graphic design forum, and also through other social media outlets, I have over the past few years made acquaintances with people all over the world, some who have evolved into what I can say in all sincerity great friends. Many of them have sprung from the group I mentioned here before that I started on Facebook in support of Mick Jones’ Rock ‘n Roll Public Library. With that group of friends I share in common an intense love for the Clash and all related projects that translates into a very distinct world view and philosophy, and it is a very generous, sharing community, one I’m glad to have become a part of. The ability to network via social media can be an amazing and powerful thing indeed.

So, back to the idea of sharing the creative endeavors of others, one such person that I have met via the Mick Jones’ group is an amazingly talented photographer named Haydn “Wheelz” Wheeler, and I want to share some of his work here because I really feel it deserves to be seen by more people. So continuing with what I like to call my Friends of Tulip Tree series, I introduce to you the work of Wheelz Wheeler.

A little about him, Haydn is a long time Clash loving soul, a bass player from Bournemouth. He is a gardener in Poole, England as profession, but his real passion is street photography. He also frequently attends live concerts and photographs them. In the DIY spirit he photographs as an independent and in an incredibly generous spirit then shares the spoils of his craft via his Flickr page for all to enjoy. Speaking of social media, as of late he has been photo-documenting and attending the NOBonus4RBS campaign rallies conducted by Billy Bragg (more on that in a future post, but for now you can follow the link to learn more), a group that has a very large presence and following on Facebook, with over 33,000 members as of this writing.

So, without further adieu, here are a few images I have selected to share here, the rest resides on his Flickr Gallery, which holds a staggering number of gallery sets including The Good The Bad and The Queen (that’s the name of the album, the band has no name as Paul Simonon will tell you), The Sex Pistols, Los Mondo Bongos, Tinariwen, The Heavy, Thomas Dolby, Martha Wainwright, several sets of the Mick Jones’ Library, Billy Bragg and Jail Guitar Doors to name a tiny fraction of what is there. Enjoy and respect, and if you take a saunter into his gallery, please leave a comment or two to thank him!

Strummer London Print Expo, 2007 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Los Mondo Bongos, March 13, 2010 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Los Mondo Bongos, March 13, 2010 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

The Heavy, February 2010 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Billy Bragg, NO BONUS FOR RBS Speakers Corner February 2010 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Mick Jones' Rock 'n Roll Public Library (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

Martha Wainwright Jazz Cafe London, 2009 (photo: Wheelz Wheeler)

The Yalla Yallas

Good morning! I can’t believe it’s only 11 am and I’ve already drank my coffee, finished the mirror painting, and I have an interview of sorts I put together with Rob Galloway of The Yalla Yallas, a band I’ve been listening to for the past several months (another discovery made thanks to the Strummerville Foundation, click image at left to go to their website and you can hear their first album streaming in its entirety). I had intended to give a little information about them in a post, but that idea evolved into one better (kind of like one louder), and Rob was gracious enough to spend some time answering a few questions about the band. I did not address this in the interview, but worth mentioning now, the band’s name was carefully chosen to reflect a little bit about who they are, as it is also arguably one of Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros finest songs).

Shan: First, for readers of this blog who are hearing about The Yalla Yallas for the first time, could you give some background about where you are from, and how you got together?

Rob: We’re The Yalla Yallas were from Leeds in Northern England. I formed the band in December 2007. I was a solo artist doing some electronica punk rock style thing which was influenced by artists such as Big Audio Dynamite, Beck, and Eels. I decided a change of direction and got my best friend Matthew Dempsey in to play bass. Will Grinder had just left his previous band 3 Mile High and joined us alongside on-loan drummer Kev Bellwood from 4 Letter Holiday. Kev was later replaced by Matt Delahunty who now completes the line up.

Shan: How did you become associated with/involved with Strummerville?

Rob: It was when I was a solo artist … Pockets who was one of Joe’s best friends and is a trustee for the charity contacted me. I had just released my solo single ‘Girls Are Meaner Than Boys’. He got in touch and said he could help us he wasn’t sure how as the charity was pretty much still in its infancy but he promised he would help. Time goes by and just by chance at a gig in London … I think it was MC5 and Primal Scream at the Royal Festival Hall … Anyway Pockets managed to recognise me … He had never met me properly and we had only ever spoken briefly on the phone … We had a good drink etc… We stayed in touch and when Trish took over as charity manager she basically allowed the funds to go through for us to record our debut album ‘Act Of Defiance’ … They have done alot for us and were so proud to be involved with them.

Shan: How would you describe the sound of The Yalla Yallas, and who are the influences that are most prominent (and how do they find their way into the music you make, be it sound or style or philosophy)?

Rob: The sound is very energetic … It’s positive … It’s raw … It’s honest … It has instinct … It just feels right … The lyrics are something I believe in … They have to be. As for influences … well thats everyday life … Love, Anger, Politics, War, Business, Money, Lust, Despair, Apathy, Hope, Humour. I’d like to think things are going to get better in this world … I think that’s why there’s an air of positivity about us. I think I take dark subjects and somehow inject some hope or humour into it. As for artists that influence us … We could be here all day … Myself and Will have the most diverse musical range and even then were so different from each other but also so the same … Will can listen to Hip Hop, Drone Metal, Blues, Reggae and Folk music all in the same hour. I can listen to Punk, Pop, Rockabilly, and Latin or World music. Dempsey will tend to listen to music that lacks any credibility,and Matt tends to listen to only music that has some weird tenuous link to The Wildhearts or Metallica. However I feel after all that we end up sounding like a mix of The Stooges, Guns n Roses, Rancid, and Social Distortion which is no bad thing. There’s no real thought about how we sound … we just sound like we do and we like what we do.

Shan: What is most important to you?

Rob: Honesty is important to me … I believe we are all equal … and I believe we should look out for one another … why should where you are from or the colour of your skin or anything else for that matter determine how well you get treat by another human being … We should have more respect for ourselves than to carry about prejudgemental fears about another human being. It’s not good for the soul. We are better than that.

Thanks so much to Rob Galloway for taking the time to answer my questions. As I see from one of their updates they’ll be playing a few shows in England in the near future, including one in Leeds on Wed 10th March at Brudenell Social, supporting Los Mondo Bongos (featuring Members of The Mescaleros, The Alarm, Simple Minds, and DJ Ray Gange), I shall as always, be cheering from afar!

Joseph Arthur – Devil’s Broom (Live at City Winery, NYC Jan 29,2010)

Good morning everyone! I’m back at the controls of this blog after a few days in New York City. It was only my second visit there, but the second visit in four months and I have to say that I am tightly caught in it’s grasp, I absolutely love it there.

Both this visit and the last was precipitated by buying tickets to see Joseph Arthur. Two Sisters and a Show hit New York City! I know many of you know of and have heard him, but for those of you who haven’t, Joe is originally from the Akron, Ohio area, which is very close to where I grew up and even closer to where I attended college (Kent, Ohio). It’s nice to have someone local out there making it creating phenomenal music. I’ve found this nice little blurb (I love that word) about him though, that’s worth sharing here:

“Joe is one of those rare writer-performers where you get the sense, whatever your belief, that something greater is being channeled through his music and voice…Like Patti Smith, Grant Lee Phillips, Thom Yorke, he trances, and the voice, the meaning, becomes bigger than him, bigger than a few pop chords or words strung together. It touches something very deep and universal.” – Michael Stipe (for the LA Times)

He’s picked up residencies in both New York City (at the City Winery) and in Philadelphia, PA (Tin Angel) in February and March, as well as some others in Austin, Atlanta,  Nashville and Asheville.

One last mention, during Joe’s shows lately he has been painting live, and 100% of the  proceeds from the sales of the paintings will be going to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. We watched as he painted two large scale canvasses during several songs, including  “Invisible Hands.”