Rock Music

Man On the Moon: An Interview With Tom Moon By Steven Ward (August 2001) Former professional musician Tom Moon, currently the pop music critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer, started his career in rock journalism because he was anxious to hear a new Steely Dan album. The year was 1980, the album was Gaucho, and Moon, then a freshman studying saxophone at the University of Miami, was about to embark upon a career of writing reviews. After a stint at his college newspaper, Moon began writing about music for the Miami Herald, while playing off and on with musicians like jazzman Maynard Ferguson. As a writer, Moon’s perspective on professional musicians is unique: he was one before he picked up a pen. Like New York Times pop music critic Jon Pareles, Moon’s name constantly comes up when other critics talk about their favorite music writers. rockcritics.com decided to find out what all the fuss was about, so we promptly sent Moon a questionnaire. The 40-year-old critic talks in detail about our favorite topic. -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  - Steven:   You are the pop critic of one of the largest daily newspapers in the country, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and you are a frequent freelance reviewer for Rolling Stone. Do you feel like you have power and influence with your position at the paper? Tom:   I’m not in it for power and influence. And if I was, the daily newspaper racket wouldn’t be the place: We’re pretty low on the overall food chain–it’s much more important for an act to crack MTV than get some kind of (often short and ultimately inconsequential) mention in our pages. I’m not sure that the people who buy CDs and are avid consumers of pop culture media take their cues from newspaper critics. Because it’s a general interest publication, we often look hopelessly un-hip to savvy music heads simply because we have to cover the Willa Fords of the world. And the Neil Diamonds. My goal is more to shine a bit of light on those artists who are not turning up all over the increasingly crowded media matrix, to advocate for stuff that is compelling musically. And when a Destiny’s Child record comes around, talk about it in a semi-intelligent and non-condescending way, to give both those who love and hate them a sense of what’s happening on the record. Steven:   And since the paper job is one that I would assume is so demanding and time consuming, why do you continue to write for magazines like Rolling Stone? Tom:   I have learned a ton from my editors at the newspaper, particularly Linda Hasert, with whom I’ve worked for the last ten years. She’s a really sharp eye who makes everything she touches better. At the same time, she’s the first to admit she’s not a music person. A while ago, I figured if I was ever going to get any better at this writing thing, I would need to work with a bunch of different kinds of editors–particularly people who were listening to all kinds of music. Anthony DeCurtis was one of the first people I encountered at Rolling Stone, and his approach remains an inspiration: He’s into checking out all kinds of stuff, very open minded. I’ve tried to emulate that: Somebody will have an assignment on an act I don’t know much about or isn’t my taste, and I’ll do it just to learn something. Right now there’s so much coming out all the time that I actually like it when someone can yank me away from the five records I have to hear for the paper and push me toward the one that I maybe wouldn’t find otherwise. Steven:   You write feature stories, CD reviews, concert reviews and do some music reporting at the paper. Do you prefer one of those tasks to the others? Tom:   For me it’s about a mix. I get cranky if I’m writing reviews of records and shows for too long without talking to people who are engaged in makin

Review by Dr?mmarenAdrian — There are records, often more or less concept records which are perfect as a unite and there are records like this, International Harvester's Sov gott Rose-Marie which is incoherent and sprawling. Some moments they shone how cool this music could be, with a very groovy minimalistic rock music. I have actually hard to find band that are som heavy as International Harvester. Important to know is that this band is the same band as P?rson Sound, Harvester and Tr?s, gr?s och stenar. On the time of this release they had changed name from P?rson Sound and were made up by Bo Anders Persson (guitar, vocals), Thomas Tidholm (saxophone, flute, vocals), Urban Yman (violin), Arne Eriksson (cello), Torbj?rn Abelli (bass) and Thomas Mera Gartz (drums, vocals). I could have rated this record "good but not essential" if it wasn't for some sound crap I have heard here. "I villande skogen" is thank lord very short but meaningless mumbles. "Klockan ?r mycket nu" is annoying and repeating and the almost twelve minutes long "How to survive" is awful and very boring, monotinic and not cool at all. "The runcorn report on western progress" is also slow and very bad.The better sides of International Harvester is the opener: "Dies Irae" with saxophone screaming chruch notes very powerfully and it ends up in birds singing. "There is no other place" is a cool rock song, typical for this band's better moments. "Ho Chi Minh" is a bunch of strong slogans in support of Vietnam's fight against USA, also powerful rock. "Ut till v?nster" is very short but has a nice flute melody. "Stadsministern" is great if you speak Swedish. They sang: "The Prime minister can read, The Prime Minister can write, The Prime Minister can count, but he can't dance rocka bogga rocka bogga dong dong dong". "Sommarl?ten" is a god song that also shows the best side of this band with a strong melody and skillful musicians. "Sov gott Rose-Marie" is a nice hypnotic lulluby. The long tracks: "I mourn you" and especially the bonus track "Sk?rdetider" is perhaps the most important tracks if you want to hear how they sounded. They are very minimalistic but also good. "Sk?rdetider" is very long, 25 minutes, dark och powerful but not very exciting. It depends on if you are interested in minimalistic music. I am not very found of that but enjoy some parts of this music. But this is not really my favourite form of prog and some parts are som bad and meaningless they destroy the record as a whole. I recommend this record to somebody, absolutely not everybody.

Ram, the second post-Beatle LP from Paul McCartney has just been reissued through Hear Music. There are numerous ways for the uninitiated to acquaint oneself with its contents, but the best is likely the two-disc Special Edition. It presents the contents of this hard-fought classic alongside a second album of appropriate bonus material. Paul McCartney was the member of the Fab Four that so many used to relish knocking around. Whether it was in spirited bar chats or animated discussions at parties, when the tide turned to The Beatles somebody could always be counted on for a hearty jibe at Macca’s expense. And in my above use of “so many” I’m generally referring to males and by “somebody” I’m specifically speaking of those who indisputably considered John Lennon to be the Best Beatle. While for those truly devoted fans of the band there could simply never be a Worst, for many Paul was the Square Beatle, a designation not borne out by the facts, for he was as interested in the avant-garde as any member. Hell, in ’68 he co-produced “I’m the Urban Spaceman” by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for Pete’s sake, an act that places him rather high up on the meter of cool. However, others derided him as the Corporate Beatle. And yeah, it’s true that Paul never lost track of the business aspect of the whole affair, but his behavior in this regard hasn’t really played out as particularly odious in comparison to other rock star types of not even half his stature or talent. But both Paul’s image and the assessment of his post-Beatle solo career has rebounded in recent years. Much of this might have to do with the constantly regenerating fanbase of the Four consistently growing older and perhaps letting go of the rebelliousness that inspired easy identification with Lennon or Harrison. It also might be related to the race for Coolest Living Beatle being down to him and Ringo “No More Mail, Thanks” Starr. But seriously. In my estimation Paul’s general critical resurgence is a welcome phenomenon, if only because his first two solo records have finally gotten something approximate to the proper level of respect. And yes, for years I bought the baloney regarding the collective underwhelming nature of McCartney and Ram, too. This was in part due to older acquaintances, even those quite favorable to McCartney’s work in The Beatles, being generally disapproving of his solo stuff, considering those early albums as grievous miscalculations of ambition (or lack thereof) and Wings (which of course wasn’t really Paul “solo,” being a band in its own right) as a severe pendulum swing into the other direction, offering safer though often more grandly scaled distillations of Paul’s talent. But the kibosh was Landau and Christgau’s critical double whammy on Ram, which was enough to make me weary for years. And yet, as I kept stumbling onto really great albums that either Jon or Bob (or both) disdained, and as the general curiosity inherent to music fans started getting the better of me, I decided to take the plunge. I sensibly started with McCartney, and was knocked plumb out by its stripped down feel; it’s been described as demo-like, and that’s accurate. In contrast to the over-slick efforts that were clogging the bins at my point of discovery, it was a real breath of fresh air. And unlike its rep, the level of the songwriting was excellent, and made clear that McCartney’s aims were indeed ambitious, though simply at odds with what the critical zeitgeist (it wasn’t add odds with the record buying public however; both McCartney and its follow-up sold an asston). But the high quality of Paul’s solo debut simply couldn’t prepare me for the exquisitely ramshackle affair that is Ram. While I already knew and highly enjoyed “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” I was a fresh-faced newcomer to the wonky blues of “3 Legs” or the rollicking smack-talk of “Smile Away.” In “Monkberry Moon Delight” I found a deliciously snide and considerably twisted stomp, and “Ram On,” with it

Poll created by Stool Man — Prog music has been going now for six decades. Stool Man2013-05-24 06:52:42

Killing Joke: tales from the dark side The Singles Collection 1979 – 2012 captures the ever-evolving Killing Joke story with a series of dark, apocalyptic songs. The Singles Collection… is initially being released as a Limited Edition three-CD set (33 career-spanning singles plus a third disc of rarities, including previously unreleased studio tracks), plus a Super Deluxe Cigar-Boxed Edition. Check out all the abovementioned 33 tracks from The Singles Collection… via the stream here. Killing Joke, with their original line-up of Jaz Coleman, Geordie, Youth and Big Paul continuing to hold firm, have now signed a new deal with Spinefarm. They will soon set about recording a third studio album for the label, with Youth once again at the production helm. The release date is likely to be early 2014. In the specially filmed video below, we delve into KJ’s history in the third and final part of an – almost – track-by-track guide to their new boxset. Part one is here. And part two is here.

Of Earth have released a video for their track Heart Of The Hard Drive. View it below. The band, fronted by UFO bassist Rob De Luca, beat David Bowie to Classic Rock’s Track Of The Week in March when they launched previous video, Prototype. De Luca is joined by guitarist Paul Casanova, drummer Rik De Luca and keyboardist Matt Baram in Of Earth. He describes the band as “more art rock” and adds: “There’s a fine line where despair and hope can meet and mix. It’s a powerful and profound moment. I feel our music somewhat represents that place.” He’s on tour with UFO in early June, culminating in their performance at this year’s Download festival.

Heavy Metal Truants: Bruce ready to add pedal to the metal Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has joined the line-up for the Heavy Metal Truants Download Festival Charity Bike Ride. He will ride alongside the likes of Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, Classic Rock Editor-In-Chief Scott Rowley, Metal Hammer Editor Alexander Milas and Prog Editor Jerry Ewing for an event that is set to help some excellent causes. Dickinson will be flying in specially from Germany following two sold-out Maiden shows in Frankfurt so he can join the Heavy Metal Truants in cycling the final 25-mile leg of the bike ride into the Download Festival on Friday, June 14 – the day before Iron Maiden’s headline appearance there in front of an expected 100,000 fans. All proceeds from the ride will go to three charities: Nordoff Robbins, Teenage Cancer Trust and Childline. Dickinson commented: “Yes, maybe it’s the first time the headliner has shown up on a bike, but I do use my bike to get around in London when l get the chance and have turned up at the Beeb on a bike before, though the Commissioners were a bit surprised as they are too used to seeing limos! “These are great causes, I am only sorry that due to our tour schedule l can’t do more of the ride, and hope our fans will support our efforts. I look forward to a day off after the ride seeing some great bands before we go into full Maiden action on the Saturday, with every intention of giving the fans a memorable show. Download and metal fans are the best there are, so everyone expects something very special.” Head to www.heavymetaltruants.com for more info.

Following a run of 2 years 9 months I’ve decided to wind things down with Living To Music, making it an irregular feature of the blog from herein. Up until now it had been a monthly series, but something has to give and, as I’m currently stuggling to fit in all the things I need to be doing, I can’t maintain this commitment, although I don’t want to stop the series completely. With this in mind I’ve decided that 33 (and a ?), the speed at which a vinyl album rotates, is a fitting number to complete this first phase, for this is the amount of albums that have featured to date. Further to this I’ve recorded a podcast in which a track from each of these 33 albums (in the order of their selection) is played. 13 selections were from the 1970’s, 7 from the 1980’s, 5 from the 1990’s, 4 from the 1960’s, 3 from the 2000’s and 1 from the 2010’s. 15 acts were from the UK, 13 from the US (plus 1 combined UK / US), 3 were from Jamaica and 1 was from Iceland. 19 were recorded by groups, 9 by male artists and 5 by female artists. 30 different artists featured – Pink Floyd, David Bowie and The Beatles providing 2 albums apiece (John Lennon appearing on 3 albums overall – 2 Beatles and 1 solo). 2 of the albums were live recordings. The selections spanned 47 years, 1963-2010. http://www.mixcloud.com/gregwilson/living-to-music-3313-compiled-by-greg-wilson/ Even subjectively, this is nothing like a definitive list, there are plenty of artists who could just as easily featured – greats like The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Doors, Dusty Springfield, Sex Pistols, Sly & The Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, Public Enemy, Massive Attack, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Carole King and Kraftwerk all spring to mind for starters, not to mention a number of further albums by the artists already featured. By the same token, it’s too simplistic to see the Living To Music 33? as my favourite tracks from each of the albums – some might be, but others were chosen because they were perhaps the most representative in this context. Whichever way, these felt like the right tracks to illustrate the rich history of recording Living To Music has encompassed. As one door closes another opens – I’ve been thinking of how I can better employ my Mixcloud account, which is currently housing a selection of my radio mixes and turntable edits from the early 80’s (stuff I’d recorded on tape in the first few years I got into editing), and, given that the service is stream only, I thought it would be an ideal abode for compilations I’ve put together of individual tracks (rather than DJ mixes, which I’ll continue to upload to SoundCloud). I’ve done a number of these comps down the years, both for my own personal enjoyment, as well as friends’, so it would be good to now share them from time to time as ‘cloudcasts’. I’ll also look to upload the Random Influences and Time Capsule series’ when time allows. With Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy’s ‘Classic Album Sundays’ continuing to go from strength to strength, I feel the baton has been successfully passed and the most important thing in all of this, that people take the time out to really give their full attention to the listening experience, is a message that has been considerably spread since the first Living To Music session, Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, was held in July 2010. You can find out more about ‘Classic Album Sundays’ here: http://classicalbumsundays.com/about/ In this age of information overload, the difficulty of getting people to stop what they’re doing for an hour, once a month, in order to experience an album they may, or may not have previously heard, has proved to be a difficult commitment for all but a small, but dedicated hardcore to sustain. Big thanks to all who have contributed, both by participating in the sessions and adding comments beneath the accompanying posts here on the blog – hopefully, one day, your example will be followed by larger groups of people, who will find t

Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready admits he found it difficult listening to his work with Mad Season – because of the bad memories it brought back. But he’s also proud of the work the supergroup did in a “quick flash” of time. They released their only album Above in 1995, then had to abandon the follow-up after the death of bassist John Baker Saunders in 1999 and frontman Layne Staley in 2002. McCready and drummer Barrett Martin regrouped with vocalist Mark Lanegan to complete three songs that had been started at the end of 1990s, and they were released as part of a Mad Season box set earlier this year. It also featured a remastered version of Above – which was a “bittersweet” experience for the guitarist. “I’d listened to it all the way through probably two times since it came out,” McCready tells MusicRadar. “It’s very sad. Baker and Layne both died, so there’s a sadness that hangs over the entire record. I wasn’t willing to live that again. Those couple of times I did listen to it, it was tough. “When I went back and heard it again it was freeing and said. I cried and laughed, and felt proud. I felt a real mixture of emotions that I’d never had with any other music I’d done, because two of the guys passed away, and I miss them. “I wish that they could be here talking about it. I’d like to see what they’d be like now, when they weren’t as young as they were whenever we made the record.” Looking back, it seems Mad Season was a perfect fit for the band’s name – and McCready feels the box set underlines that. “There was a feeling of closure because we put out everything we did,” he says. “To be able to do two DVDs from two shows was pretty cool. It was good to say: ‘This is what we did in a short period of time. We were a quick flash – then we were gone.’” The guitarist believes Saunders has never been recognised for his contribution to the band. “Everybody sort of gravitated towards Baker,” he recalls. “He was a real honest, really cool bluesman. I think Layne felt that – the honesty and the realness – and so did Barrett.” And he’ll always be grateful for the lessons he learned with Mad Season: “It was a free-form, fun thing; there wasn’t any pressure, like, ‘This isn’t my band, Pearl Jam.’ I didn’t have all of the insecurities that went along with that. Running back to that time, I definitely needed something to help me gain confidence in my songwriting. Mad Season was kind of the vehicle for that.”

The seventh annual Hard Rock Hell festival takes place this November – and tickets to the event are like gold dust. We’ve held back the last two rooms available – and you could be in with a chance of winning the accommodation by entering our exclusive competition. The HRH7 lineup features Black Star Riders, Nazareth, Michael Monroe, Paul Di’Anno’s farewell show, Blaze Bayley, Snakecharmer and many more. Not surprisingly, the festival at Hafan Y Mor, Pwllheli, Wales, has now sold out of accommodation. But you can still be there if you enter our contest. Check out the flyer below for details about how to enter.