not sure if you are interested in older bands but check out the trash from tokyo comps (I think I may see them over at paradise of garage comps site right now, wink -wink)

Shonen Knife.

i'd definetely suggest The Golden Arms, hiroshi is refered to as the japanese johnny thunders, here's their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/goldenarmsjp

another band which i stumbled upon by accident and i really enjoyed is called Yura Yura Teikoku, check them out they're really cool!

I don't think I'm covering any new ground here, but my son (he's two and a half) loves The 5.6.7.8s and Thee 50s High Teens. The new album from The Routes is a strong candidate for my year-end favorite albums list.

Supersnazz - they're Japanese, and female... their song 'Uncle Wiggly' is on the playlist on my page (go listen!!)

i like the fly and his one man garbage, he's a cool one man band

http://youtu.be/KojS8QaeN80

Damnit, again! I just realized that I replied to a question from 2007!

Sorry about that. I'm brand new here, and sorta old :)

Also, stores are buying very little qty nowdays. Stock isn't moving like it used to. I've noticed that stores will pick up maybe 3 copies each of an album (not including one stops) and then restock over and over. Stores are being extremely cautious, they don't want to be left with anything that can't be returned (ie; vinyl) As strange as it sounds, our cd sales have skyrocketed in 2011, and I think a big reason for that is that cds are returnable to the distributor, most distributors do not take returns on vinyl, so stores are picking up very few copies, and only restocking when the last copy is gone. Cds are returnable, so stores are more liberal with the purchasing.  Stores may pick up 20 of a cd format, and only take 2-3 of the same release on vinyl format.

 It's getting rough. But if you have a great back catalog, great bands that are touring and are active, and a decent promotional budget, there are distributors out there that will pick you up.  Not sure if you give advances to bands? But that is a way to break in and get some bigger bands, if you have one decent sized band that has a solid sales history worldwide, and is active, that can be enough to boost your overall label sales, and that would be time to approach a distributor. D

Distributors are also being extra cautious now also, so finding a distributor among the very few left, is a bit more difficult, and gone are the days of distributor advances to labels.

If you don't mind me asking Erik, how long have you have your label for?

It took my label many years before we started breaking even, and eventually having enough profit to barely survive off of.

Nowdays, all indie labels are broke. Three out the five biggest independent(punk) distributors shut down all within 3 months. There are a bunch of distro's and smaller distributors still out there. We are fortunate to have great distribution both in the U.S and overseas, but it took a lot of money a lot of releases and many years to get to that point.

 I could go on for hours about the complete suck of running a label (remember Lumberjack Mordam? We were victim to that whole mess) within 3 months, we lost around 25,000 bucks, which is a ton of money for a small label. I almost threw in the towel as well, but decided to perservere. Everyone is having a hard time right now, so your deffinitely not alone.

 As much as it kind of sucks to have to do it, you have to try to pick up large national act's that are already doing really well. Once you get a few larger bands on your roster, it gives a boost to the smaller bands and releases.

 What kind of music do you release?

I happened to catch about 2/3's of the movie on The Documentary Channel. It's quite a band bio, going into details about Wilco Johnson's hippie background, morphing into being a highly unorthodox schoolteacher, following through with the Dr. Feelgood being the first unsigned band to make the cover of the NME.

There's a quite a bit about Wilco's meth problems and the consequences of said addiction on the rest of the band, creating a chasm in particular between him and Lee Brilleaux. This film is essential viewing.

I personally, don't think cds are going anywhere, anytime soon. For just about all labels, cd's are still their bread and butter.  As popular as vinyl and digital have become, they are still dwarfed by cd sales.

 I believe cd's still have a fairly healthy life left in em, as well as a larger profit margin. Vinyl is pretty much a loss when your selling at a 12.98 or so retail cost. Distributor pays label 7.00 or so, the product cost the label 5 bucks a piece to make, not including promotion, advertising, pr. etc. And the 2-3 bucks a piece made from vinyl does not stretch very far.  Digital is still just a "happy perk" to most labels. Seeing a couple hundred bucks in your account per month certainly doesn't account for much in the grand scheme of things. But cds are still selling well, at least in my experience. They cost about a buck a piece, they still retail for 8-12 bucks. The money made from cd sales help pay for the more costly vinyl releases, and promotion and such. I can't imagine what would happen right now if cds just disapeared. It would have a profound effect on not only labels, but the entertainment industry job market, advertising would plummet which would effect websites and zines, pr companies would drown. It would be almost an industry wide panic.

 Anyway, my half asleep thoughts on it..

Saw Los Straitjackets and Knyghts of Fuzz in June and recently saw The Feelies. Looking at the Fleshtones or Dirtbombs next!

Gonna see Hank III on friday!! So pumped, gonna try to meet him and do the whole "listen to my shitty band!" thing

oh god i could only wish..

erin said:

NORTON FEST!!!!!

 

may i sudgest the vox ac4 for that ,small ,cheap ,tube and toneful seems great

Jamie said:

Cool choices. Have you ever tried the infamous "poke holes in your amp" trick? I haven't yet, but one of these days I'm going to get a small amp and try it out. I heard that Dave Davies had a small amp that he then ran through Vox AC30 I believe. If I could find a small cheap amp I would try it.

Added a bunch of you ... Since I know for sure you all have fabulous taste, it's going to make the "My Friends Radio" station extra-specially awesome. :)

i have been using lastfm a lot lately. they play a lot of good garage. i like it a lot better than pandora cuz the lack of commercials and the more verity of music. i just made a profile on lastfm for my band but it's been hard to get the radio station to work i think i need people to try to listen to the tracks on the profile.

Don't forget to check out this weeks playlist at  whfr.fm   - you can search the playlist for "the Wrekking Hours" radio show to see the complete list.

Catch ya next week for more new Psychobilly!! 

Wrekking Hrs is ON THE AIR!! tune in now 4-6pm for Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Surf & More @ http://whfr.fm/about/listen-live-now  - Monday November 21, 2011.   

Today features Mars Attacks, The Moonstompers, Marti Brom, Jumpkatz & More.

For the Psychobilly & Surf hour we'll feature Batmobile, Concombri Zombie, Kitty In A Casket, Circus Knucklebone & More.

Tune in while you can to hear it live!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcgILoeOXKg

Thanks a lot Bry! We will look into those things.

Bry Nylon said:

Hi - don't know about digital options or keyboard options - - but in the 'physical world' I have played about in this way for fun ... ...if you have, or can borrow one to check it out - maybe try running the mic. through a phaser of some sort [or phaser & bass flanger linked together]  - I have an old 70's out out control/near uncontrollable 'colorsound' foot pedal phaser ...but with foot pedals [vox etc...] & mics ...I have found that you sometimes need some kind of volume 'limiter' or 'threshold' style noise gate to stop deafening/wild variations in volume   - I also have a pretty wild 'Boss' super phaser PH-2 [they are lime green in colour] - you can tape it onto the head mic stand next to the mic and control all 4 buttons & modes on it real easy it that way ...phasers can give you real squelchy and drippy acid lyrics so long as you constantly fiddle with the settings as you are using the mic  [takes a little practice but good fun and maybe worth a try] - a piece of foam taped between the pedal and the mic. stand can help stop unwated noise vibration from using the pedal in this way  ... guitar effects are pretty good fun anyhow and you can get prefft wierd stuff out of most of them with some mic's - kind regards - bry ; )

The Striped Bananas said:

I'm wondering if anybody has some insight into recording trippy vocal effects? Sometimes in the old 60's psychedelic songs it sounds like the singers are running through a keyboard or tremelo pedal or something. Has anybody ever recorded vocals with these kind of effects?

What would we need?

 

Thanks, Duncan

I'm wondering if anybody has some insight into recording trippy vocal effects? Sometimes in the old 60's psychedelic songs it sounds like the singers are running through a keyboard or tremelo pedal or something. Has anybody ever recorded vocals with these kind of effects?

What would we need?

Thanks, Duncan

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
Nov. 18, 2011

The modern-day one-man band refuses to die.

Maybe it’s the bad economy that makes it more fiscally feasible to travel and perform without having to divide up the gate with others. Or maybe stripping music down to its gutbucket basics is a reaction to slick, over-produced rock ’n’ pop. Or, to indulge in some sociopsychological navel-gazing, perhaps the whole thing is a weird symbol for 21st-century isolation.

Whatever the case, one-man bands continue to haunt the edges of the rock ’n’ roll underground.

The concept is basic: one man plays guitar, banjo, ukulele, or sometimes keyboards with his hands, drums or other percussion with his feet, and harmonica or kazoo with his mouth.

Among the current practitioners of the art are Scott H. Biram, whose album Bad Ingredients is one of the finest records of the year; Bloodshot Bill; King Automatic; Bob Log III; John Schooley; Jawbone; Urban Junior (who calls his music “Swiss-spankin-electro-trash-garage-boogie-disco-blues-punk”); and Mark Sultan aka BBQ, whose acrimonious split from the King Khan & BBQ Show is an example of how even a two-man band can be a petri dish for personality conflicts.

Here are some recent one-man wonders whose CDs have crossed my ears in recent weeks:

* Burn Down by Poor Boy’s Soul. I first became aware of Trevor Jones, the one man behind this band, by way of a strange email from his publicist: “I have been trying to get this band serviced to you for weeks now. Want to know why I haven’t been able to get this out to you? He went missing. Got a call today from him, apparently he was in jail in a small town in North Dakota. Trevor rides the freight trains around the U.S. and, well, he got busted.”

That modern-day hobo-minstrel tale got me curious. I had to hear his voice before the railroad bulls silenced it forever.

Jones, an Oregon resident, got his band name from an old outlaw ballad, “Wild Bill Jones”: “I pulled my revolver from my side / And I destroyed that poor boy’s soul.”

He started out as a metal and punk player. But after he started riding the rails, he apparently got possessed by the lonesome ghosts of Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly. “I bought a cheap acoustic and started learning folk, bluegrass, and blues from folks on the road. That’s when I started developing the style of music I play now,” he says in his official bio.

His voice has a gruff edge to it, but it’s not overdone. Crediting Mississippi Fred McDowell as a major influence, PBS plays a mean National guitar. Most of the seven songs here are hard-edged blues stompers, starting out with the title song — a slow-moving, ominous tune that sounds as if the singer is about to do something regrettable.

My favorite at the moment is “Nails in the Pine.” It’s the most uptempo number, reminding me of The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Also notable is the almost-five- minute “Ain’t Comin’ Back,” which has a dark, spooky feel. The way it’s recorded, you might think you’re hearing it from a car radio in the 1950s (right before your car breaks down on a dirt road near the local serial killer’s house).

The biggest surprise on the album is the last song, a somber seven-plus minute ballad called “Annalisa.” Sounding like a more melodic Jandek song, this is a moving tribute to Jones’ sister — who, he says, has overcome many obstacles. “Annalisa, you’re stronger than those demons in your head,” goes the refrain.

I’m looking forward to hearing more music from this poor boy’s soul.

* The Chicken Album by O Lendário Chucrobillyman. This is some of the craziest music I’ve heard in some time. Faithful readers of this column will know that’s saying something.

Chucrobillyman, whose real name is Klaus Koti, is a one-man band from Brazil, who plays American blues with shades of Brazilian country music and some pretty snazzy percussion.

He sings in English and Portuguese. This record is pure Amazon River voodoo.

The eight-song album starts off with a tune called “Chicken Flow,” a slide-guitar blues romp with a frantic clacking beats. Add then he starts clucking — singing actually — like a dadgum chicken!

The late great Hasil Adkins — the West Virginia maniac who is the patron saint of most of these contemporary one-man bands — did a compilation called Poultry in Motion. Chucrobillyman takes that concept one level further. He doesn’t cluck on all the cuts, but a listener gets the feeling that the chicken spirit could return at any time.

All the hens in the henhouse better beware!

This album was originally released in 2008 and was recently re-released by Off Label Records, a German company.

* One-man Spotify: Hear a selection of some of the finest past and present one-man (and one one-woman) bands on my new Spotify playlist One-Man Wonders. (Unfortunately, neither Poor Boy’s Soul nor O Lendário Chucrobillyman is on Spotify, at least yet.) It’s at www.sharemyplaylists.com/one-man-wonders.

Blog Bonus! Enjoy some videos:

and here's Dock Boggs singing "Wild Bill Jones"

When I bought my stuff, to amplifie my bass-playing, the maxime was,

all to fit into a classic mini-cooper. So I got a Ampeg Rocket-Bass-Combo

with a 15 inch speaker, placed on the passenger seat, a Dynacord Bass-

King T, in the foot-space, a 2x10 inch speaker by Steelphon on the 

backseat, upon it a japanese Squier Jazz Bass and a Ibanez ATK 305.

A box with cables, a Big Muff, a Flanger and all the rest, especially a

box with incense sticks, placed in the boot. 

I loved it !!! 

I use Gibson amps. I have a 120 watt bass amp I usually run my guitar through live. It gets that nitty rich low end distortion for Hendrix style songs we do. It sounds beautiful for the clean songs as well. It is from '72. I have a 60 watt Gibson guitar amp from '66 that I use for studio sounds. Both are great and I recommend Gibson amps if you are looking for your own sound as a guitarist, something very hard to do.

-Duncan

here's some luis and the wildfires vids i took...yowza!!

http://youtu.be/SNngvRy792Q

http://youtu.be/C_x2Z3PjA6M

http://youtu.be/WAs1KD5rHIE

the Record Detective said:

Me i'm hoping that there are some clips posted from the saturday night triple threat of Luis and the Wildfires, Untamed Youth and the Randy Fuller Four. All three were outstanding and escalated the energy level. Don't think i'll ever be with that many people who get it again. Only three others around here know what i'm talking about and two were at the shows.

Many thanks to all the staff from Norton Records who made it all possible.

If Norton sells a 25th anniversary t-shirt it needs to include the words "I Survived"