La Vie En Robe

Happy Fourth of July!

Okay, so it's not actually the Fourth just yet. But since folks all across this great land are scrambling to stock up on everything from sparklers to weapons-grade plutonium in time for the USA's 233rd birthday, Jay and I figured it wasn't too early to deliver an important Taco Tuesday message about responsible firecracker usage, no matter how vague. Oh yeah — we also argued about the new Wilco and Killswitch Engage albums...

Mastodon: Lost in Space

In the grand scheme of the many adventures and encounters I've had over the years with Atlanta prog-metal dudes Mastodon, this recent ShockHound interview was pretty tame — at least in the sense that I did not twist my ankle tripping over any urine-filled bottles, get stuck on a tour bus somewhere in the Louisiana Bayou, or receive a lap-dance from a grossly overweight stripper. That said, it was still a pretty fun interview, and it gives a good glimpse at what makes these guys so special compared to all the meat-head metal that's out there these days. Long may they rock...

National Adopt-A-Cat Month

Anyone who knows me or has read this block semi-regularly knows how much I love cats, as well as how much joy adopted strays and shelter cats have brought to my life over the years. Which is why Jay and I decided to dedicate this latest episode of Taco Tuesday to American Humane's National Adopt-A-Cat Month — it's a cause I can definitely get behind, even if adopting the likes of Simba here probably wouldn't be the smartest option for your average household...

Spuds and Goddesses

Between work stuff, my endless book edits and other (admittedly enjoyable) life distractions, I've been getting way behind on my ShockHound updates. Here are two of the more stimulating interviews I've done in recent months, both of which ran on the site last week — my SXSW sit-down with four-fifths of DEVO, and a chat I had last month with Tori Amos. 

The DEVO i'view thankfully omits one of the more mortifying faux pas moments of my adult life, when I told the legendary band that I was going to see the NY Dolls play that night instead of them, while the Tori piece sadly omits one of the nicest compliments that anybody (much less an interview subject) has ever paid me: At one point, much to the amusement of my colleagues, she actually said, "Dan, you remind me of a mixture of all these great bands from the '70s." (Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear...)

I have to say that, though I am not exactly what you'd call a card-carrying fan of Ms. Amos's music, I am impressed by the way she's totally stuck to her guns and followed her inner truth over 20 years in the music biz — not an easy thing to do, to say the least. I know a lot of people think she's nuts (and she may be, a little), but I came away from our fairly intense conversation with a deep respect for her genuineness, her intellect and her earthy sense of humor. And people, let's not kid around here — skinny redheads don't generally do it for me, but I gotta admit the lady was lookin' GOOOOD, y'all...

RIP, Bob Bogle

Seriously, so many musical greats have been dropping right and left this year, it's been tough to keep track. But I had to give a shout-out to original Ventures guitarist (and later bassist) Bob Bogle, who passed away this past Sunday at the age of 75. The Ventures were the greatest guitar instrumental band of the 1960s (and you could make a good case for "of all time"), influencing everyone from John Fogerty to Johnny Thunders. They left a staggering amount of albums behind them, almost all of which are sure-fire mood elevators — my personal faves being Knock Me Out! and that two-fer CD of The Ventures Play Lonely Bull/The Ventures in Space, though I also have fond memories of spinning their psychedelicized Underground Fire rekkid at the Lava Sutra house back in the day...
    So, farewell Bob, and thanks again for all the twangy goodness. In tribute, I'm posting a clip of one of my all-time favorite Ventures tracks, their sizzling version of Richard Rogers' "Slaughter on 10th Avenue," filmed live in Japan in the mid-60s. Take it away, boys...



National Fudge Day

Yes, this really is National Fudge Day. So Jay and I went 'round the corner to see where fudge is made — and wound up reviewing the new records by Street Sweeper Social Club and Major Lazer. Mmmm, chocolaty!

"Do I LOOK Like I Have A Condom?"

I've had the good fortune to interview a helluva lot of interesting people in my life, some mega-famous, some hopelessly obscure, some somewhere in between. But few interview subjects have been as consistently amusing, engaging and fascinating as Marilyn Manson. I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of his music — 1998's Mechanical Animals and 2003's Golden Age of Grotesque were the only albums I ever spun for enjoyment — but I always love talkin' to the guy.
    Some folks think he's completely full of shit (and they're not entirely wrong), but there's no question that Mr. Brian Warner understands, as few artists do anymore, that interviews can be part of the show — an opportunity to further entertain, enrage and infect the world with your bon mots, as opposed to an onerous task best fobbed off with brusque, monosyllabic answers. (Hello, Scott Weiland!) I also think he's pretty fucking hilarious, and have found (in our conversations, at least) there to be a surprising amount of honesty and self-deprecating humor mixed in with his bold, soundbite-ready proclamations.
    This ShockHound interview I recently did with Manson was no exception. While I'm used to sitting down with him for several leisurely hours for magazine interviews, the fact that we were filming this meant we had a much smaller window of time to play with — but I think he more than delivered the goods, just the same. Enjoy...

Monacular Spectacular

Top hats, monacles, stately English gardens, abysmal English accents, psychedelic puppets with potato latkes, and of course tacos — seriously, what else could you possibly want from an episode of "Taco Tuesday"?

Long Time... Gone?

One of the coolest clips I've seen on YouTube in ages is this odd but amazing pairing of Tom Jones with Crosby Stills Nash & Young, doing a version of "Long Time Gone" that (for me at least) completely crushes the original recording into the shag carpet. The Pontypridde Powerpack lends it some serious sack, belting out the lyrics without any feigned hipness or condescension -- he completely gets what he's singing about, and Crosby Stills and Nash all seem either pleasantly surprised or (in Stills' case) totally inspired by the way ToJo is nailing the sucker. Neil Young, on the other hand, seems to be wishing for a quick and painless death, while drummer Dallas Taylor pretty much seems to be thinking, "Wow - heroin's great!"
    Unfortunately, while this performance is obviously from the This Is Tom Jones TV show, and it was mentioned in advance reviews of the This Is Tom Jones, Vol. 1 DVD, it's actually nowhere to be found on the copy of the DVD that I own. Did the infamously litigious Young request it be pulled off at the last minute? Any of you Tom Jones fans out there know anything about this?

Don't Forget the Motor City

I read last night that the final wrecking balls have started swinging at Tiger Stadium, which by now is such a foregone conclusion that only a handful of Detroiters actually showed up to watch their city's beloved baseball stadium (where I also happened to see my first-ever major league game) literally bite the dust. I suspect that the slow death of Detroit itself is now a similarly foregone conclusion, which is such a massive tragedy on so many levels — economically, historically, culturally, racially, musically, even culinarily if you're a Coney Dog kinda person (I, for the record, am not) — that I can't even begin to wrap my head around it. Doesn't seem like too many other folks can, either.
    I last visted Detroit five years ago on a Revolver assignment; I specifically asked to stay downtown, so that I could wander around and take photos in my free time. As a kid growing up in Ann Arbor in the 1970s, the Motor City seemed to me a scary but still vibrant and glamorous (at least in a seedy way) kinda place; when I explored it in 2004, it was scary and still, which made it seem even more unnerving. I literally walked around downtown for hours one Saturday morning without seeing a single living soul — with the exception of two bums who asked me, "Hey Elvis, you got any change?"
    I took a number of photos that morning with my old Lomo, which I finally got around to scanning and put up as a Flickr set. I regret that I didn't take better notes about what most of these buildings or streets are/were; the silence was so eerie, I felt like I had to keep moving or I'd become a target for whatever zombie armies were lurking in this or that abandoned hotel. But you can still see the beauty and the power of the city in these old buildings, and get a brief whiff of the days when Detroit was still the baddest place to be and be from. I wish I'd taken more photos while I had the chance.