Orange County Music Blog

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After the death of guitarist Ron Asheton, many hoped Iggy Pop and his bandmates would recruit former axeman James Williamson and keep the band going. Well, they did and by clicking this link, they'll get to hear a bunch of professionally shot videos from the new lineup's first show.

Of note is the band's inclusion of Iggy solo songs "The Passenger" and "Lust for Life," along with Stooges outtakes such as "I Got a Right," "Cock in My Pocket" and "Kill City."

Okay, maybe that headline was a little strong. I don't "hate" you, "envy" is a better word. Those waiting with baited breath for the next time this ravenous band of fluffy-haired art rockers would travel anywhere near OC had to swallow a bitter pill when The Mars Volta's first tour dates in support of their new album Octahedron were announced. WTF? Venutra? Why?

And while most die hard fans wouldn't mind a little trek down the 101 North (ok, a long trek) they HAD to have it at the Majestic Theater. Nice theater, great theater, small-as-fuck theater. Then of course, after that it's off to London, Zurich, Paris, everywhere but here. The bright side, as dark as it seems for those who aren't going tonight, is the fact that the new album, Octahedron, is upon us in the next couple of weeks, June 23 to be exact (the physical copy anyway).

So maybe by the time Omar, Cedric, Ikey, Juan, Thomas, Marcel, Adrian and Pablo (am I missing anybody?) decide to trot their asses to L.A. or OC again, you will have every lyric, beat and aural outburst encoded in your memory. Better get started on that, eh? Those of you that are going tonight, feel free to gloat here. The rest of you can maybe take solace in hearing some of the new tunes here.

Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch has a website devoted to music lessons. Now, that in itself isn't newsworthy, but I did a little snooping and realized he's really onto something.

 

Anyone who ever took a lesson knows how boring they are. A 14-year-old wants to learn Metallica riffs (at least I did), not pentatonic, major and minor scales. Balch seems to know this and has set up videos by musicians from bands such as Fu Manchu (duh), the Dwarves, Helmet, TSOL, Torche, Monster Magnet, the Dickies, 3 Inches of Blood, Exodus, Pelican and more. There are even videos with Mike Watt laying down the low end, which is worth checking out even if you don't play any instrument.

 

The site, which is called PlayThisRiff.com, offers a few free videos, but guests need to register for full access. Yes, there's money involved, but from what I can see from the freebies, this might be the best instruction site on the net.

 

One of the biggest pet peeves I had when I took those two lessons way back when was how my teacher was completely out of touch with the music I liked. All he wanted to do was jam Beatles tunes all day (I dug -- and continue to dig -- the Beatles, but I didn't want to play their music). In fact, he was so weird that whenever he'd write down transcriptions for me, he'd alter the names of the songs just slightly because he was afraid of getting sued. So instead of being taught "Something," I was being shown how to play "Sum Ting" by "the Beat-less."

 

And you wonder why I get paid to write about music instead of getting paid to play it.

Jazz has few living legends from its halycon days. Sure, there are some modern players (the Marsalis brothers come to mind) who picked up the torch when it was passed to them, but as far as 100 percent legit dudes from back in the day, the list is very short.

Luckily for Orange County, Sonny Rollins, a man who stands firmly atop that list, is playing tomorrow night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Rollins' resume reads like a who's-who of jazz. The saxophonist played alongside John Coltrane (albeit for one song), Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown and Max Roach. His 1956 album Saxophone Colosuus is a jazz masterpiece that begins with one of his most well-known tunes, "St. Thomas."

 Unlike other players from his era, Rollins has transitioned into the modern era in a smooth manner. He's used the same band for years and together they play a really enjoyable sound that blends the best of bebop and contemporary jazz. 

Tickets range from $25-$82. Show starts at 8 p.m. This ain't Chain Reaction: You can't just show up when you want. So don't be late.  

To boring people, April 20 means two things: the anniversary of the Columbine massacre or Hitler's birthday. To stoners, it's something way cooler.

Because stoners can't agree on anything other than, yes, they should smoke another bowl, the origins of 4/20 vary. Some say it's police code. Some say it has something to do with the Bible. But again, like only stoners can, they overlook the past and keep their eyes on the prize, ie getting stoned.

Now, I have something to admit. This 4/20 will be the first in many years that I won't be partaking in the ceremonial activities. This really sucks because I don't like Christmas, I think New Year's Eve is amateur night and I don't eat Easter chocolate because I'm a vegan. For years, 4/20 was all I had in the ways of holiday participation.

Thanks to a somewhat minor (or major depending on who you ask) health issue, I can't get high anymore. It's for the better in all sorts of ways, but giving up anything is always an easier pill to swallow when it's voluntary and not mandatory.

That said, I can recommend some good tunes to crank (or play at a reasonably low volume) for all those sure to be calling in sick today.

For starters, you can't go wrong with Cypress Hill. I mean, weed is basically priority No. 1. With songs such as "Hits from the Bong," "I Wanna Get High" and "Legalize It," you can't go wrong with Cypress Hill.

Louis Armstrong promoted weed on his 1928 tune "Muggles." My math sucks, this is way before it became cool in the '60s.

Dr. Dre's first solo disc is called The Chronic. Need I say more?

The record that got me to move from Minor Threat straight edge kid to puff puff passing stoner was Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle. I mean, tha Doggfather's hitting a j on the back album cover. Literally, a life-changing record.

Any Jimi Hendrix will do, but I really dig when he says, "are you experienced?" He could be talking about anything, but it definitely applies to getting high.

I don't care what anyone says: The Beatles are chanting "smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot" at the end of "I Am the Walrus."

Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" is pretty much the foundation for a scene now called stoner rock. How can it not be with words like these: "you introduced me/to my mind/and left me wanting/you and your kind" and "I love you sweet leaf/though you can't hear."

Oh, I almost forgot. Any reggae will do, but Peter Tosh and Bob Marley are good places to start and finish a pot-smoking adventure.

And when you've gone through an eighth and it's time to smoke that final bowl before bed, throw on John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. When you're stoned, it just makes more sense, maaaaaan.

This list is by no means complete. I could go on for pages and still not hit them all, so I'll let you do that. Feel free to add more in the comments section.

I've been to one Coachella and that was in 2003. Although the motive behind the hellacious trek from Long Beach to Indio was to see the first Stooges gig in nearly three decades, I ended up witnessing something way cooler than a shirtless Iggy.

Elephants.

You heard me. I saw a train of circus elephants walking in unison across the empty field behind an area where White Stripes fans were watching their beloved duo fight through sound issues that stemmed from an unforgiving desert wind.

Coachella was hyped as some special gathering where all sorts of free-spirited mumbo jumbo supposedly takes place, but a freakin' elephant parade? This was too much.

At first I was scared. I wondered what in the hell elephants were doing at a festival and took deep breaths to counter the overwhelming sense of impending doom. But after counting seven of them and realizing that the thousands of people in attendance weren't rushing for the exits, I calmed down and, for the first time all day, got really into the Coachella vibe, man.

It's not every day that a parade of elephants crosses your path (unless you work at a circus) and the sea of people, animal caravan, beautiful music and perfect desert night was not something I could keep to myself. This tingly feeling of being at one with nature needed to be shared with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, she was way more interested in Jack and Meg White than I was, but fuck the White Stripes. There were goddamn elephants!

I turned around, tapped her on the shoulder and shrugged my head left to indicate that something of epic proportion was going down. Of the countless shows I'd been to at that point in my life, nothing amounted to this. Nothing. For a brief moment, Coachella was Woodstock, Utopia and Babylon rolled into one. There was no war, no poverty, no life-threatening diseases; just bliss. But when I once again looked left, the elephants were gone.

Then I realized there weren't any elephants. It was the weed talking.

Like the Ghetto Boys, my mind was playing tricks on me.

I was by no means a marijuana novice by the time I hit the Empire Polo Club. In fact, if getting stoned was the National Basketball Association, I was a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate. But even I had to admit that I got too stoned that day.

Oh, and the Stooges? They ruled. Then we went home.

The Beastie Boys' 1992 classic Check Your Head has now been given the re-issue/re-master treatment. Not sure why, as this disc sounded pretty good the last time I listened to it last week, but what do I know?

 

The new version comes with a total of 36 tracks (the 20-song original album and 16 B-sides and rarities and is available as very modern high-quality DRM downloads and the very old school four LP ultra-deluxe 180HQ vinyl. The latter comes in something described as a coffee table book and is limited to 2,000 copies. There's also a two-vinyl version for non- record collector geeks and a CD ecopack. Audio commentary regarding the album is available at the group's site for those who need to know where that first sample came from.

 

The B-Boys had an interesting career before Check Your Head. The group began as a hardcore punk act and somehow morphed into frat guy hip-hop. As great as License to Ill is, in hindsight, it's a bit, how do I say...cringe worthy? Some great tracks, but the shadow cast by "Fight For Your Right," "Brass Monkey" and "Girls" unfortunately dominates less embarrasing songs such as "Time to Get Ill," "Slow and Low" and "The New Style." Their follow-up was Paul's Boutique, perhaps the most beloved and unknown record in their collection. If only one hip-hop disc was needed to a time capsule of any era, this would be it. The production (provided by the Dust Brothers) is fucking sick. And the rhymes? Dope as dope can be.

 

Check Your Head was do or die time. The B-Boys could have gone in any direction and made the right choice by showing the world that they were not just emcees, but bona fide musicians. To date, I still can't think of a hip-hop disc as diverse and Check Your Head while still sounding 100 percent authentic. I'm also amazed at how the group didn't inspire more rappers to learn how to play instruments.

 

Just last week I was listening to Check Your Head and without even noticing, my feet got moving and my ass was shaking. Although the hits ("Pass the Mic" and "So What'cha Want") are amazing, I'll never get enough of "The Maestro," "Something's Got to Give," "Professor Booty" and "Gratitude."  

 

As I mentioned in my Pearl Jam post regarding the Ten re-issue, this whole thing is getting out of hand. Yes, we'd all love to hear the B-sides and whatnot of our favorite groups. And yes, we'd also love to hear our favorite albums sound even better than they do, but there's got to be a better way for people who already own these discs to get the current version without forking over dough for a record they already bought. In my case, Check Your Head was one of the first tapes I purchased. I still have that copy, along with a CD version. If ya ask me, the B-Boys got enough of my cash for this one.

 

But if you haven't already bought Check Your Head, you're either 11 years old or you think Chuck Mangione is God.

Yes, more Lady Sovereign news from me. Why? Because she rules. That's why.

Her latest disc is called Jigsaw and it's out today. You can buy it at these things called record stores or do what everyone else in 2009 does and get it at iTunes. Either way, I'm pretty sure the songs are the same.

The first single, "So Human," charted in the UK. Come on Americans, let's help out the biggest midget in the game. Buy that shit.

I got an email a while ago from singer/songwriter Jeff Caudill. Unfortunately, I'm just getting around to posting it now.

If you didn't know, Caudill was the singer for OC pop/punk/emo group Gameface. He's been a solo artist for a while now and, dare I say, hasn't lost a step. When he's not fronting Jeff Caudill & the Goodtimes Band, he's part of a cross-Atlantic project called Floormodel and a new band I know nothing about called Black Rattle. But if he's in  it, I'm sure it's good.

Here are some highlights of his email for those who are interested.

Ok, not really. But he is a musician and he's playing Saturday.

His name is Darrin Thaves and he's a flutist. Let me go on record right now as saying this: If you have to live within earshot of a professional musician who not only practices all day, but gives lessons in their spare time, make it a flute player. Seriously, it's like heaven above, which is ironic because he lives upstairs.

My girlfriend (sorry ladies) and I often talk about how screwed we'd be if we shared walls with  John Bonham or Slash, but the flute's another ballgame. Every blue moon Thaves asks if his playing bothers us and trust me, if it did, we'd tell him. But it doesn't. It's actually really nice and I tend to miss it when he's out of town.

So anyway, according to his bio, Thaves "has held the position of Principal Flute with the Northwest Sinfonietta and the Pacific Chamber Soloists, as well as the position of Second Flute in the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a featured soloist with both the Northwest Sinfonietta and the Tacoma Youth Symphony. He is the Co-Director and Founder of the NW Flute Collegium, and serves as a flute coach for the Evergreen Music Festival. He has also served as director of the Pacific Flute Ensemble and as Flute Specialist for the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association." He also serves on the applied flute faculty at Cal State Long Beach, whatever that means.

Saturday's show includes works by Bohuslav Martinu, Paul Schoenfield and Paul Taffanel. I'll be there and so should you. If anyone reading this decides to attend, come say hi. I'll be the guy who looks like he shouldn't be at a flute gig.

Come to think of it, Thaves isn't the only pro I've lived next to. Years ago I shared a bedroom wall with Reel Big Fish's Scott Klopfenstein (when he wasn't on tour, which was like four days a year), but Thaves is pretty damn talented in his own right and worthy of some attention.

The performance is at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSULB. 8 p.m. $10.

Ron Reyes -- also known as Chavo Pederast, also known as the right answer to the question "who's the best Black Flag singer?" -- has seemingly been living under a rock since bailing on the South Bay punk band more than two decades ago. Rumors swirled that Reyes moved to Vancouver, Canada, and had found God. And now, thanks to myspace.com, those rumors can be confirmed.

I don't make a habit of posting links to people's myspace pages, but this is something totally different. Reyes was -- and still is -- my favorite Black Flag singer of what was probably my favorite Black Flag era ("Jealous Again"). His vocals were potentally melodic and his performance in "The Decline of Western Civilization" used to make me jump off the couch when I was in high school.

According to his myspace page, Reyes played in a garage/glam band called Crash Bang Crush Pop after leaving Black Flag and also recorded some home demos that were never released. The player on his site has some of these songs and they're pretty good. CBCP's cover of the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is killer, as is a homemade tape of Reyes' lovesong for his wife called "Our Love is Perfect." 

Reyes also has a youtube site with footage from Crash Bang Crush Pop that shows his rocking really long hair.

For Black Flag fans, this is a goldmine. I don't know if ol' Chavo is interested in becoming your "friend," but his page is open to the public and he's got some never-before-seen pics worth taking a gander at. 

In case my story in this week's print edition wasn't enough for you, I was kind enough to transcribe my interview with singer/songwriter Tim Barry for your reading pleasure.

Tim's a great person to talk to and I hope you have half as much fun reading this as I did conducting the interview.

Get your pompadours, rolled jeans, Pabst Blue Ribbons and Converse ready because the Hootenanny is right around the corner.

This year's lineup includes the Reverend Horton Heat, Los Lobos, Horrorpops, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the Supersuckers, Lee Rocker, the Blasters, 3 Bad Jacks, Roger Alen Wade, Dusty Rhodes and I'm guessing a whole bunch more.

I went to the Hootenanny once and I'm on the fence about how it went. For starters, I despise all-day festivals. The sun is not my friend, I don't like lines, expensive beer makes me angry and the sound always sucks. On the flipside, if you're into rockabilly and all its "'billy" cousins, the Hootenanny's lineup always has something cool. Plus, there are classic cars galore and more ridiculously gorgeous pin-up girls in one place than anywhere on the planet. For that last reason, I'm going to have to say I had a good time.

The show is July 4th at Oak Canyon Ranch (which has to be one of the best locations for an outdoor concert EVER), but you can score a ticket as early as Friday.

Fathers, lock up your daughters: Alfunction's coming to town.

It seems as if a little band named (hed) PE has upcoming shows and needs a bass player. Something about their regular bassist having work visa programs. I don't know... Anyway, like every smart set of musicians in Orange County, when stuck with this predicament, you call Alfunction.

Best know as the guitarist in local rock band SiX, Mr. Function will be holding down the low end on this trip. He's got to learn something like 20 songs in a few days, but based on my experience with him, that's like asking Kobe Bryant if he can dunk over an eight grader. Al's done the hired gun thing before (Cypress Hill and OPM), so this sort of thing isn't new to him.

I've played in two bands with Alfunction and he never ceased to amaze me. Whether it's an endless supply of Gene Simmons impressions, more auto knowledge than your local mechanic, a collection of gear that rivals Guitar Center or his kick-ass facial hair, Al rules. Oh, and I forgot, he's one of the best guitar players in this county and it's 'bout time the rest of you recognized that.

This new version of (hed) PE plays Friday in Petaluma and some mega-festival called the Locofest on March 14. Someone film that shit. I always get a kick out of seeing my friend on a big stage.

Part two of "Cleaning out Ryan's musical closet" is a major score for Jawbreaker fans. I, myself, love this band almost as much as I love anything on this Earth, but it's time for a new home.

I have one copy of Dear You (the Geffen version, not the Blackball re-release) still in the shrink wrap. It's got a sticker on the front that says "Featuring: Save Your Generation Accident Prone" and one of those band name sticker things on the top.

Next is a promo copy of Dear You. No sleeve or cover, but the disc says "Advance CD" and there's a mini-bio and track listing on the back.

Finally, a promo copy of the "Fireman" single. No cover. Just a disc.

I about shit my pants when I found all these. I wish I could tell you where I found them, but that part of my memory is nothing but a memory. I thought about selling these at Amoeba, but I'd rather give someone the opportunity to get these before some lame-ass record store clerk gives me $.25 for all three.

And yes, by selling these, somewhere inside, the 19-year-old version of me just died.

Name a price and they are yours. And I'll let you in on a little secret: I really want to get rid of these, so the first person has a pretty good chance of getting these, regardless of how low you go.

Spindrift is is a really cool LA band that plays Spaghetti Western music. These dudes are so into it, they made a movie, which just so happens to be screening at the Art Theatre in Long Beach tonight (the band is playing too).

The film is called "The Legend of God's Gun." I saw it a few years ago at a house party in LA. Maybe it was all the weed, but I really dug it. And I hate movies. Killer music and the cinematography was spot on.

If psychedelia and western flicks are your thing, you'll thank me for this recommendation. 

LA's only rock 'n' roll duo (at least that's how they bill themselves) It's Casual plays tonight at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Also performing is Death by Stereo.

Two of my old bands used to play with It's Casual and it's nice to see that since I gave up music, singer/guitarist Eddie Solis and drummer Wal Rashidi have got a decent following of people who know good from bad.

If Slip It In-era Black Flag, Fu Manchu and KISS is your thing, you'll dig It's Casual.

 

So last night I finally made it to this place called Casa Diablo. It's a strip club with an all-vegan menu and the dancers are not allowed to wear animal products. As a single vegan male alone in a city with nothing to do (and no restaurants open at 10 p.m.), I had to go.

I get in and notice a heavily-tattooed girl dancing to two dirty old men. Not unlike home, I told myself. But dancer after dancer hit the stage and the tattoo quotient kept rising and the music improved.

Unlike other places at home, there was no lame dance tunes or semi-ironic Motley Crue. One girl even shook her moneymaker to Elvis Costello's "Party Girl" before getting wild to a Cursive song whose name eludes me at the moment.

One of the dancers saw me by my loneself and chatted me up. She told me the old man deejay let the girls play their iPods, which led me to believe the girls at Casa Diablo have the best taste in music of any tittie bar in the country. Or at least of the tittie bars I've been to, which I admit, is not that many.

 

Long Beach's Haymaker is playing the Westside Bar & Grill tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Normally I'd post this on the day of the show, but I hate last-minute notices, so don't say you didn't have ample time.

Haymaker is a four-piece that plays twangy Americana rock that sometimes gets labeled alt-country. I'm not one for labels, so check out their tunes and you can decide where their discs should be stocked at your local record store.

Singer/guitarists J.W. and Mike Bay trade off lead vocals, and unlike others who try this, Haymaker doesn't lose a step when each takes the mic. And regardless of who's singing, you're getting something close to a modern day Creedence Clearwater Revival, which is to say they're catchy and (I can't believe I'm about to type this), a lil bit country and a lil bit rock 'n' roll. 

The best part is...it's FREE!!!!!!!

The Westside Bar & Grill is located at 512 W. 19th St.

I've been a Sirius Satellite subscriber (hello alliteration) since the night before Howard Stern broadcast his first censorship-free show. But in that time, I've come to love certain aspects of the other channels and have recommended this product to everyone from friends to my parents.

Sirius and XM, its competitor, merged a few months ago after what seemed like an endless battle to turn two into one. To be honest, I didn't follow the merger as much as I should have because ultimately, I really didn't care.

Why did NASA send a titanium copy of the latest Linkin Park album to every planet in our solar system?

Well, to kill off any interest that the aliens may have had in invading earth.

That's one of the many jokes in the considerable arsenal of Neil Hamburger, "America's youngest comedian." For those unfamiliar, Hamburger is in the same milieu of Andy Kaufman's Tony Clifton character, an intentionally bad comic that tells unfunny jokes and bitterly insults his audience; which is, depending on your appreciation of irony and anti-humor, either totally hilarious or something you just don't get. He's in concert tonight at Alex's Bar in Long Beach.

The reason this is on our music blog is because earlier this year, Hamburger released Sings Country Winners, a surprisingly competent send-up of old-school honky tonk. He's been touring with his band, and doing 1/2 music, 1/2 stand up shows.

I called over to Alex's Bar to see if they knew if this was a show with his band or just straight stand-up; they weren't sure (?) but guessed it was stand-up, since the other acts were comedy (as if his country music was totally serious). Some of them, yes ("the comedy stylings of Jason Boggs"), but there's also Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen performing a solo acoustic set. So who knows? Should be fun either way.

And he's not wrong about Linkin Park.

One of my favorite bands from my old hometown, Phoenix's Dear and the Headlights, are opening up for New Jersey indie-folkers Steel Train tonight at Chain Reaction.

Here's a piece I wrote on them (with a bonus CD review!) in January 2007 in advance of their first full-length, the excellent Small Steps, Heavy Hooves. They're currently touring behind their sophomore release, Drunk Like Bible Times, which came out in late September.

Also on the bill: The Living Suns and Set to Sea, both from Fullerton, and Seattle's Forgive Durden. $12 at the door, and the show will be streamed live on Chain Reaction's NotMTV site.

From my outsider perspective, I thought Huntington Beach was primarily populated by "skate-logo-clad teens and meth-addled Nazi skins," as Rich Kane put it in a recent post in our sister blog, Navel Gazing. So what a nice surprise when I came across Venus Infers, from HB but practitioners of a sound that alternates between dreamy pop and more rollicking garage rock. They cite Kasabian and Razorlight among their influences, and much more closely resemble than the punk rock commonly associated with the area.

Their CD release show is tonight at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. They'll be performing with the Coral Sea and Free Lions, and celebrating the release of their record, The Truth ( About Venus Infers). This isn't their only recent high-profile gig: They opened up for Chris Cornell at the House of Blues in Anaheim late last month.

If you can't make it there tonight (though, come on! it's only $6!), Venus Infers are also playing at next Saturday's big soundDowntown festival in Santa Ana, and Nov. 21 at SlideBar in Fullerton.

We've written about Venus Infers before; in a 2006 Locals Only during their incarnation as an apparently strongly Blonde Redhead-esque act with a female singer, and earlier this year, again in Locals Only, after their release of a six song EP.

Other than to play the Shally Zomorodi drinking game, of course, which goes like this: every time the giggle-prone host touches her deskmate Ben Aaron, you take a shot. But then again, if you're watching this show at 10 a.m. whilst clutching a bottle of Jaeger, you've got much deeper issues than an addiction to crappy morning TV.....

Anyway, say what you will about DayBreak OC -- and I have, both here and right here, and in numerous blog posts like this one and this one too.

But there actually is one very good reason to watch KDOC's laughably wretched, idiot-laden morning variety show: the fact that they have mostly excellent local bands and musicians coming in each day for a song and some half-witted Shally/Ben banter. Many of which, like George Fryer, we've been writing glowing things about for years, either in this 1998 profile or just letting the man rant about his favorite music himself via this early version of our Aural Reports column.

George and his Combo were featured on DayBreak last month (peep the video below), and this week in particular, it seems as if whoever is in charge of booking the music on the show has been flipping through back issues of the Weekly, which means they've acquired some much-needed taste. We were delighted to see the fabulously gifted Chris Karn doing "Tears" solo-acoustic style on yesterday's broadcast, sans his regular band Deccatree. And this Thursday morning, none other than the amazing, soul-powered keyboard prowess of ex-Helmut Steinster R. Scott will severely goose up DayBreak's watchability, a slice of sound and vision certain to wake the show's 12 loyal viewers out of their Pete Weitzner-induced coma.

It's been over two years since Multiply dropped and helped to make Jamie Lidell one of the most interesting neo-soul men of this decade (his absolutely bananas live shows added even more to his lusty luster). He's been touring like a madman the last few years and consequently hasn't released any new material since Multiply. However, it seems he's settled down for a bit and started cutting new songs.

Lidell's website has a video of a hot one in progress (more videos can be found here). It bodes well for his next album. But as great as his recordings are, Lidell really excels in live settings. He's blown my mind five times in the last couple of years. Here's a live review I wrote after witnessing Lidell in Seattle in 2005. I mean it—don't ever pass up a chance to see this guy.

Music Editor Dave Segal is somehow able to mentally catalogue every CD that he comes across. I know this because on a regular basis I wheel my chair across massive distance of four feet to his desk, throw several adjectives at him and delight at whatever he suggests I listen to.

Heart-wrenching blues? Bettye Lavette.

Groovy, downtempo lounge? Wax Tailor. Never fails.

Yesterday it was more of a dire necessity than usual. I was at my wits end and needed something good. Something soulful and elegant.

He hands over Bitter:Sweet- The Remix Game.

A new version of the band’s divine album The Mating Game, this disc brings together spin doctors like Thievery Corporation, Skeewiff and Yes King to add new and imaginative spins, hooks and beats.

But! The song is not lost or mangled in some disc-jockey’s inflated vision. Remixing at its finest.

So immediately infatuated with The Remix Game, I felt the need to share.
Both Calendar Editor Vickie Chang and Le Receptionist Leslie Agan had the same response: “Hey, I’ve heard this before!”

You’ve heard Bitter:Sweet before too, I’m willing to bet.

To name a few, their music has been in The Devil Wears Prada, Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, some Victoria's Secret commercial, blah blah, you’ve heard them.

But not like this.

Now you must.

Jeff Shaw at our sister paper City Pages goes off the beaten sleigh path to bring his readership 10 songs for the season. Ever generous, Jeff's allowed us to share 'em with you:

10 and 9: Two from Tom Lehrer
My uncle would never forgive me if I didn't mention Tom Lehrer's scathing, brilliant "Christmas Carol.." Unfortunately, only the lyrics are available on-line, and the only performance of the song is a dreadful reading performed by the even more dreadful Christopher Hitchens. Do Not Want. On the brighter side, we can do a different-denominational holiday Lehrer experience with the peppy "Hannukah in Santa Monica."

8. Harvey Danger, "Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas."
In a nod to my current personal activities at this time of year, I must mention this track from Seattle's Harvey Danger.

7. Of Montreal, "Christmas Isn't Safe For Animals"
Kevin Barnes has a penchant for odd Christmas songs. Besides this preciously weird, violin-backed indie tune, his band has also produced two goofy Christmas-themed songs on their early record "The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower." But this is the most accessible of the three, and features a bizarre radio montage in the middle. Excelsior! Get the lyrics and the MP3 download here.

6. Dean Martin, "Jingle Bells (Dan the Automator remix)"
Lounge never felt so cool as it does in this gentle remix that is (gasp!) true to the original. The beatmaker behind Del and Handsome Boy Modeling School does the Rat Pack proud, and I bet even your mom will dig. Download it here.

A Daft Punk and DJ Legit make a bunch of grown-ups in get-ups sweat.

As promised in my review of the last Busywork, Will Tee Yang's pictorial handiwork of this ludicrously fun gala event can be found here. Better late than never, and now you have almost a year to plan next year's costume, playas.