A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican 
Jan. 27 2012



Mark Sultan, a Canadian who has made a living, or at least part of a living, as a one-man band — and sometimes as half of two-man bands such as The King Khan & BBQ Show and, with Bloodshot Bill, as The Ding Dongs — has a pretty strong opinion of one-man bands.

He hates them.

Ranting on his blog last year, Sultan wrote:

“I can see how a one-man-band set-up can leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth. ... I hate one-man bands. Seriously. There are only a couple I like, and those few I do like I like because I don’t consider them one-man bands, but rather musicians who manipulate minimal gear and sounds and transform it and themselves into something special and transcend what they present. ... I don’t like the one-man band as gimmick. Or this fucking community of one-man-band team thought. I hate teams. I hate competition. This is all sports mentality. I hate sports, too.”

Now, I love the raw, stripped-down blues-bash basics of a Bob Log III and O Lendario Chucrobillyman. The one-man format works fine for an artist like Scott H. Biram, boiling down blues and honky-tonk to its basic DNA. There are some European one-manners out there, like King Automatic and Urban Junior, who have taken the form to weird dimensions. And I believe that the ascended master Hasil Adkins knew cosmic truths that most of us lesser mortals will never comprehend.

Whatever

But on the other hand, I think I know what Sultan is talking about. Like any kind of music, there is definitely some sameness in the sounds produced by the minions of second-rate Bob Logs proliferating at the edges of the garage and roots-rock scenes.

So, it’s fitting that Sultan’s latest work — two new albums released simultaneously late last year — seems to drift further than ever from the typical one-man band sound. On the new albums Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want, he continues to explores his beautiful obsession with doo-wop. Basically, Sultan just does what he’s always done best — melodic (mostly) tunes colored by R & B, rockabilly and primitive rock ’n’ roll.

But the sound, while still a million miles from overproduced, seems fuller than ever. As he’s done on previous albums, Sultan uses guest musicians. On the new records are Sultan’s pals from The Black Lips (with whom Sultan plays in the garage/gospel supergroup The Almighty Defenders) and Dan Kroha of The Gories. And, even more so than past efforts, he’s not above using a few studio tricks to give the tracks a little heft.

Whenever

A word about formats here: Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want are available only on vinyl and downloads. However, for CD loyalists, there is a 13-tack compilation called Whatever, Whenever. Unfortunately it doesn’t have some of my favorites, like “Blood on Your Hands” (which sounds  like a weird team-up of Danny & The Juniors and The Kingsmen), “Repulse Me, Baby,” which has a little King Khan in it, and “Pancakes,”  which you might mistake for  Sha Na Na making the greatest IHOP commercial in the history of the world.

Other favorites from the new albums include Whatever’s “Just Like Before,” on which Sultan goes right for the doo-wop jugular. It sounds like a lost cousin of some vintage Drifters hit. The rockabilly influences show on “Satisfied and Lazy” (on Whenever), while “Party Crasher” on Whenever gets psychedelic with a droning organ, some “Paint It Black” guitar riffs, and distorted background vocals that may make you think of Dion & The Belmonts interpreting the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Whenever closes with an unexpected twist. The epic eight-minute “For Those Who Don’t Exist” starts out with Sultan strumming a guitar with the tremolo way up and whistling a weird little melody that could almost be a slower version of the Pixies’ “La La Love You.” Then, with clanging railroad-crossing bells apparently warning you, the saxes come in, and it’s a free-jazz odyssey.

What sets Sultan above most slop-rock purveyors is his voice. He has always owed far more to Sam Cooke than to Hasil Adkins. While he messes with several styles, his soaring voice is the thread that holds these two albums together.

Also recommended:

* Bad Luck Man by Delaney Davidson. This New Zealand native reminds me of some ghostly troubadour wandering the Earth searching for shadows.

As was the case with his previous album, Self-Decapitation, Davidson’s music shows traces of blues and hillbilly sounds, a little Gypsy jazz, faint strains of Dixieland, perhaps a touch of tango, and who knows what else.

Every song on Bad Luck Man has its charms, sometimes fully revealing themselves only on a second or third listen. Among the standouts are “Time Has Gone,” the kind of sad waltz Davidson does so well. Organ and horns rise up during the first instrumental break, giving the song a circus-orchestra texture.

The murder ballad “I Told a Secret” is a faster-paced waltz with a droning slide guitar. “I made a promise I would tear out my darlin’s sweet heart,” he sings in the first verse. And, by golly, he keeps that promise.

Davidson goes straight for the blues on “Windy City,” a raucous blues burner that comes late in the album, with chugging harmonica and a low gutter guitar. This tune pays its respects to Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley, and other monsters of Chicago blues.

Delaney in Santa Fe

Though most of the songs are originals, Davidson plays some covers. He takes bluesman Abner Jay’s “I’m So Depressed” and makes it rock.

And there’s “I’ve Got the Devil Inside,” written by Davidson’s Voodoo Rhythm crony and touring partner, The Reverend Beat-Man. (The two played together in Santa Fe twice in recent years.) Davidson is backed only by loud drums you might think are a high-school marching band from the netherworld.

But for all the demonic energy, there are also some redemptive moments, the finest being “I Saw the Light From Heaven,” a backwoods gospel tune on which Davidson is accompanied by a lone banjo.


BLOG BONUS!
Here's Mark Sultan performing The Rolling Stone's "Out of Time" and his own "I'll Be Lovin' You" from the $ album



And here's Delaney Davidson waltzing with the ladies in Tucson, Ariz. the night before he and Beat-Man played Santa Fe in July, 2010. The song is "Time Has Gone," which is on Bad Luck Man.

Your best bet would be to find an engineer/producer who's familiar with your genre and has had (proven) experience with recording bands you can relate to… Studio facilities and equipment hardly matters when working with the right people.

Get a left/right mic input tape recorder (or a 4-track with only two mics plugged in, each one panned all the way to left or right). Put each mic on a mic stand at opposite ends of the room. Record everything live.

JW recorded De Stijl in his house with cheap equipment. Chances are, the more expensive your studio is, the less likely you are to get a 'lo-fi' sound. Best bet is to go DIY and make do with poor conditions, that requires a lot of know-how though. If you have a lot of time to experiment then you should record the raw tracks yourself and maybe get a pro to mix them for you.

That 'magic, awful sound' is going to be a combination of good songwriting, a well produced record, and recording with the musicians who have the right feel. It's a lot more than just going to the right place.

I'm trying to record an EP for my 3 piece garage punk band and I want looooooo-fi. Those albums are my top 3 inspirations for recording, but I don't know shit about recording. I live in NYC, so I have access to awesome studios, but I can't tell who's blowing smoke up my ass when they say "lo-fi". What should I be looking for? What questions should I be asking? Is there anything I can do myself?

Here's the playlist from Jan 26/2012

This is part 2 of an all London Ontario show playing only cassettes by hometown bands....this is only the tip of the iceberg. Keeping the cassette technology alive in sleepy London Ontario from Western University (as it is officially now called) radio station CHRW!!

1. Crash 80's...2 + 2...from the Animals Fight Back, the first official compilation cassette of London bands in which the bands were aware of, and had a say in the song on the tape. Crash 80's also released an excellent 7" called Waiting For The Heat/Thrills.

2. Dead Rabbits....Tell That Girl To Shutup...recorded at the Cedar Lounge 2/9/82. This one goes out to Wanda Dead Rabbit who happened to be celebrating a birthday during the day this show aired.

3. Groove Things...We Get High...recorded live at Notes 6/5/91. At one point Notes was a disco and later started having live bands. The Grooves Things featured Rob Munro on guitar/vocals who had been in The Frankenstein 5 and is about to unleash a new garagepunk combo in Hamilton Ontario.

4. The Woodmen...Bring My Baby Back...demo...Singer Tom Dunphy is now in country combo The Rizdales who backed up Wanda Jackson last time she toured this area.

5. Thin Line...White On Black...from a self titled cassette and features the bass playing of Peter Gripp who is currently in the Vancouver based Living Deadbeats.

6. Nosmo King Jr...City Of Faith...from their cassette called What A World Eh Doggy? from around 1985 and the band morphed into The Corn Dogs who released several more cassettes and at least one LP.

7. The Zellots...Let's Play House...recorded at The Cedar Lounge 9/21/81 for Rose and Doug's wedding. The Zellots will be reuniting with all original members on Oct 26th...more details soon.

8. The Zellots...On The Dole...recorded live at The York Hotel (now called Call The Office) 5/10/80.

9. The Zellots...Blades...1981 demo recorded at EMAC studios.

10. Radio 4...PTL...from the first London band compilation called Domestic Animals that was done by Peter Moore and Gerry Collins. Some of the bands were unaware that they were on this tape until it was out...hence the second cassette, Animals Fight Back as mentioned on track one of this show.

11. Sheep Look Up....Jumper...from their only cassette and was produced by Peter Moore. They started as VD Teens, then Raw Dogs, then Radio 4 and finally settled on Sheep Look Up. The press called them Joy Division rip offs which was a quick short sighted comparision. Live, Sheep Look Up could be ferocious!! They combined art school sensibilities with raw punk anger to create their own sound! A band that coulda and shoulda....

12. Sheep Look Up...Civil Disobedience...as above. A song that should havebeen played at the rally for the unemployed EMD workers this past saturday.

13. NFG...Cowboy Rock...recorded somewhere sometime, probably late 70's. Thanx to Bob Glidden for this one. NFG will be reuniting for a show Oct 26th.

14. 63 Monroe....Give 'Em Up...recorded at The Cedar Lounge Easter 81. 63 Monroe were a later incarnation of NFG and later they became First Date (Fall 1981) and then went back to 63 Monroe, the name they still use...make sense...if i wasn't there, it wouldn't make any sense to me either.

15. 63 Monroe...Cyanide...from their self titled cassette from the early 80's.

16. Legend Killers....Strychnine...from a demo May 1986. Legend Killers were a fave of What Wave zine and appeared on all 10 cassettes, as well as a 7" compilation and a compilation on OG/What Wave Records called Mr Garager's Neighbourhood. And we released a 7" EP by them as well...and a few years back a CD....

17. Legend Killers...99th Floor...as above.

18. Legend Killers...C'Mon Everybody...recorded live at Hard Times 9/22/88. Legend Killers shows were always lively entertaining shows that would get people up dancing and drinking. Hard Times was also known as Kellys, Bullwinkles and many other names....but calling a club Hard Times has to be one of the stupidest names for a clubs ever!!

19. Flying Squad...I'm So Cool...from a cassette and dedicated to a certain obnoxious DJ at CHRW who has long gone....the golden girl as we used to refer to her after she claims she was given a golden shower while leaving the Victoria Tavern one evening. That event made the London Free Press....the evil punk rocker urinates on the head of an innocent or something like that. Punks have fun too!!

20. Flying Squad...Think For Yourself...from a cassette and this goes out to guitarist Larry and his wife Cathy who are going through some really tough times at the moment.

21. Flying Squad...Fie On You...demo version of the song that appeared on Four Whom The Bell Tolls, a 7" that came free with What Wave 16.

22. Crawling Kingsnakes...Rock Like Jerry Lee...from their self titled cassette. A later version of this band was based in Hamilton Ontario and released at least 2 CD's.

23. The Finks...I Think We're Alone Now...from a demo 4/29/87 and features bassist PeterGripp who later moved to Vancouver and is still playing.

24. Spiny Anteaters...Tonic...from the Live and Live cassette....composed of 2 couples...an all in the family band.

That's it for the cassette shows for now,we'll bring the decks back in a few weeks to play some more cassettes.
Next week we've got The Oily Birds onair to do an acoustic set as they play Sat Feb 4th at Brennan's Beer Bistro with The Curious (new combo with Tom from The Cut Outs) and a Joy Division cover band.
Thanx for all the calls, emails, facebook messages, etc....and thanx to everybody that tuned in.

Here's the link for the archived show:

http://chrwradio.com/podcasts/94-9CHRWThu1900.mp3

I will be back on the air and the web on Saturday January 28 from 1:00-3:00PM EST.  You can listen at 89.7 WITR-FM in Rochester, NY or streaming live at http://witr.rit.edu .

a big muff, is a famous oldtimer that will do , but in my opinion too much woolly sounding. and a muff sounds slowly. but you can get some good noise out of em for a nice price.

me myself got the zvex fuzzfactory for about 7 years. still loving it, very loud (volume wise, a lot of fuzzboxes havent got a large output) and all sort of extreme sounds can be created. but you can also go for the wooly 60s fuzz tone using the zvex, its all there. wide range of sounds.

I just checked out the mossrite fuzzclone on youtube, boy , awesome cruel sound!! but impossible to find and expensive.

I would say checkout youtube vids. or go to your local dealer.

I just bought AND LOVE the Modtone mini FUZZER. I'ts sonicly delicious! I've owned many different fuzz boxes over the years. I've searched and searched to find the tone I dug. This is it. This little thing is rock solid and TRUE bypass. It's affordable too - around $50.00. With a 5 year warranty.

Try one and you might stop looking for fuzz pedals, until you can afford that rare $900.00 vintage fuzz that we all dream of. Even then this still might be your favorite.

I don't work for Modtone. I just think all fuzz-freaks should add the Fuzzer to their bag o' tricks - I think you'll be pleased. It ain't just fuzzy... it's down-right HAIRY!

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

And I meant Wet wet fucking Wet! first chance Ive had to get back on here and correct myself!

Lets hope he does get better JB, im now going th play 'our love will still be there' and 'lost little girl' and hope it helps!

Underrated is the word , Mark George. I still like "Wild Thing" , but , it's nowhere NEAR their best song , in my estimation. There's a handfull of bands like them left , Pretty Things , Downliners Sect.....who still have that kind passion and aggression. You can see VERY recent Troggs footage on youtube , and know that they never lost it.

I asked Reg , how do you keep it fresh , after all these years? He said , we'll go on holiday for about a month , maybe , and when you come back , you just sort of GO for it , cos you've got NERVES , and 99 out of 100 times , even , it's like  that. We still like each other, personally , and we enjoy playing , and that's what keeps you going.

iF YOU DON'T LOVE IT , WHY BOTHER? AND , REG REALLY LOVED IT. It would be great if , on some level , he could get back to it, but , the bottom line is , just kicking Cancer's ass.

It CAN be done.

 
Mark George Harrison said:

A much underrated band The Troggs, shame they only get remembered for 'wild thing' which is treated as a novelty!

An even bigger shame is that it took Bryan Fucking Adams to make Reg any money(which he then apparently spent researching crop circles!)

Good luck and God bless ya Reg

Who knew what effect listening to Sun Ra would have on Zlad?

Corinne Odermatt said:

how about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp_PIjc2ga4

Once I'm over VENTIL and Trace Adkins I might remember what I came here for, haha.

At least they wore their dress sweatpants.... sweet

Dio- last in Line/ Holy Diver
Great music, cheesy, crappy videos.

I forgot to mention its Volume 3 of the series that I own. The rest of the cd is actually pretty good but that 1st track is just shit hot!
 
Chris Henniker said:

I've been hearing about this compilation ans seeing it in Rough Trade, up in Brick Lane.

Hi Class Joes said:

I bought a cd recently called Rare mod on Acid Jazz. There's alot of ropey tracks on it but the opening track by the Montana's called 'Open the Door' is a real stormer. Check it out!

I've been hearing about this compilation ans seeing it in Rough Trade, up in Brick Lane.

Hi Class Joes said:

I bought a cd recently called Rare mod on Acid Jazz. There's alot of ropey tracks on it but the opening track by the Montana's called 'Open the Door' is a real stormer. Check it out!

Hello Nick. I used to play the drums in a Ska/Punk band here in the UK called Spanner. Look for the song called Punk As Fuck on Youtube. Our LP/CD is dsitributed in North America by Insurgence records from Canada.

So I've been listening to some 90s ska punk and was wondering if any new bands have that sound. Thanks!

It's about time, haha! I can't wait to get this and see what Howie and everyone else is putting up with inside of this issue. Howie, if I, let's say secretly, give you five spider legs and two black lagoon claws, can you give us some inside scoop on issues 2 to 12?

PS: And out very own Ken Eppstein wrote that review, way to go!

You should just download for free. Here are some great songs! www.reverbnation.com/tennesseescum ... there are links to other low level trash bands. thats the best thing you could do in my opinion. it's easy for large bands, with established fans and a following, to get people to listen to their music and get discovered. Give the new guys a chance! thanks

BTW, I just remembered something...Andy Babiuk now has his own musical instrument and gear store, so maybe he wanted to call it quits so he could focus on his business.  This is just my guess.

  It IS true , via Music Hall , The British have had a tradition of...ummm...yeah , Draggin' it up a bit , but , for laughs , you know. That all carried itself through Monty Python (Whose one Gay member , Graham Chapman , was at his best playing the "Butch" , authoritarian roles.), and goes back to Old Mother Riley and others..... But , our English Brothers were no dummies.

I read about when Bowie was assembling The Spiders From Mars band , he told Mick Ronson , look , you've got to wear makeup and glittery clothes onstage , as I do. Ronson was'nt havin' it , being from a bricklaying town like Hull. But , David assured him , if you do this , you'll have more women then you'll know what to do with. Of course , he was right. 

The androgeny thing has always appealed to women as well as.....girls. I know the BULK of Bolan's following would have been 13 years old , but , I think enough people that were old enough to buy ALBUMS realized , T-Rex , Roxy Music , Sweet , Slade , Bowie , the lot of 'em , put out fine albums as well as singles. Maybe some were merely "Closet" Glam Rock fans.    Obviously , Bolan had a very far - reaching appeal. Surely , women liked him , men liked him , too ,  Mums and Grands thought he was such a nice boy . He was like Elvis , on the surface , rebellious , and , yet ,  totally non - threatening. Men dug Elvis , if not in a homoerotic fashion (As some did , obviously) , in his day , because he was so fucking cool. The same was true of Marc. How cool WAS he ? Famously , an audience member at a  T-Rex show in Texas said , "Hey , Marc , you look like shit !"    "You'd  look like shit , too , if you'd FUCKED as many people as I have.".  

I saw Marc's old lady a couple of years ago , BTW. Still beautiful.

A lot of the Oi bands were influenced by glam and music hall too, like The Gonads (being from South London, I'm stating the obvious local example). You've reiterated what I said about musical divisions, with kids being into one thing or the other. Football fans dressing up as Alice Cooper or Bowie being indicative of this. As a teenager,  I was an indie kid and my sis liked dance music and early jungle. Perhaps it shows there's no such thing as a typical teenage music.

A lot of indie has an English approach, especially the mod influenced and cutie stuff. No wonder why Go Sailor or anything on Thee SPC doesn't fly in the US.

matthew rosedon said:

Thanks for the responses to my Why glam meant next to nothing in the US query.

Some further thoughts:

The UK has a tradition of camp theatricality from the music hall and the pantomime.  It's often said that the average Englishman can't wait to drag up.  This is reflected in The Kinks, Madness, the Smiths and many others who are quintessentially English in their approach (I know the Kinks enjoyed American success but not in their 'English' period of 1965-71 approx.)  Perhaps this doesn't translate across the Atlantic beyond cult status.  When I think of mainstream US rock of the early 70s names like Lynryd Sknyrnd and the Doobie Brothers spring to mind - music (I use the term loosely) and image as far away from The Sweet and Roxy Music as it's possible to get.  Perhaps good old fashioned prejudice played a part whereby glam was seen as limey faggot music and not rawk.

Like punk a few years after, glam was reaction music - reaction against the grey and dreary 70s that was life in England, and also a reaction against the grey and dreary music of Pink Floyd, Yes etc.  A generation gap was opening up in popular music in the UK where your big brother listened to prog rock and wore an ex-army greatcoat while your kid sister had pictures of Bolan on her bedroom wall and wore glittery make-up.

To ask another question:  Glam rock was teenage music.  If glam meant next to nothing in the US what was a 13 year old listening to in Montana or Massachusetts in 1973?  Did a specific teenage music still exist?