Takeshi Terauchi: Eleki Bushi 1966-1974 (2023)

Here’s the connective tissue as to how I stumbled upon Takseshi Terauchi, the premier guitarist of late 60s Japan, a purveyor of the surf sound made popular by The Ventures, who (if you believe the liner notes) were a bigger influence in post-war Japan than The Beatles. I was home on the couch, depressed and anxious, and I got an email announcing a repress of Terauchi’s first album with his backing band The Blue Jeans. Seeking to fill a gaping hole via media consumption I spent about 15 minutes checking out his music and instead settled on Eleki Bushi (1966-1974), an admittedly fantastic retrospective of the man’s style and technicality. Shockingly, I’m still massively depressed and anxious, but now I have some cool Japanese surf rock to serve as background music.

Is that glass half full?

ChrisJuly 21, 2025Leave a comment

Motörhead: The Manticore Tapes (2025)

First breaths of a band are a tricky thing. It can take a few years – hell, it can take a few albums – before a band achieves that singular cohesion of function and form. Being kicked out of Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilmister knew EXACTLY what he wanted to become: the ugliest, dirtiest rock and troll band in the world. But despite the clear mission statement, it took a year to drudge up the exact combination of filth – namely, “Fast” Eddie Clarke on guitars and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor on drums – to truly make Motörhead the band Lemmy needed it to be. The Manticore Tapes bring to life one of the earliest recording the classic trio did, a series of recorded rehearsals at Manticore, the headquarters of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Don’t call it a “lost album”; call it the birth of a sound that would continue to make your lawn die 50 years later.

ChrisJuly 1, 2025July 1, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Bella and the Bizarre: Bella and the Bizarre (2024)

Sometimes you know nothing about an artist other than the label they’re on, and sometimes that label carries enough weight that you take a chance. In The Red Records is one of those labels, and when I was looking to pick up a specific album (the latest from Des Demonas) I spied the self titled debut full length from Bella and the Bizarre. Hailing from Germany and boasting some indie cred lineage (lead singer Bella Khan is the daughter of noted alternative artist King Khan) Bella and the Bizarre aims for and hits some seriously fun garage punk mixed with pure rock and roll swagger.

ChrisApril 30, 2025May 25, 2025Leave a comment

CD, Vinyl

New York Dolls: New York Dolls (1973)

I’m sure it’d be cooler to say otherwise, to say I was a fan of the New York Dolls since the beginning, but the truth is I was a month old when their eponymous debut came out. And I didn’t know David Johansen at all, but I sure knew Buster Poindexter from all those videos on MTV and his role as the Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged. Eventually I did discover the band, but it was with their reunion album, the beautifully titled One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This. Backwards I travelled, finding their debut and carrying it with me for decades, bringing it out when I wanted something no other rock band was giving me, that bridge of classic Stones rock and roll swagger with the energy punk would bring in a few short years. And on the occasion of Johansen’s passing, I needed New York Dolls again.

ChrisMarch 2, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

American Aquarium: The Fear Of Standing Still (2024)

Last year I took my son to his first concert, to see the Drive-By Truckers. He’s pretty easy-going when it comes to genre, and enjoyed the band when I would play them around the house. I wish the show was a better experience for him, though – the band was loud to the point of clipping, with little to no stage presence, just ripping through song after song like they just wanted to get it over with. I don’t think they said one word besides “Goodnight.” There was one shining, bright spot though: the opening band. It was our first ever exposure to American Aquarium, and they played like their lives depended on it. It was, in a word, glorious, the kind of show you dream of when you see a band. We all bought t-shirts, I got to introduce myself and my son to leader BJ Barham, and we became there and then fans for life. The TL;DR: there was no way The Fear Of Standing Still wasn’t going to make this list.

ChrisDecember 25, 2024December 24, 20241 Comment

Vinyl

Roky Erikson: The Evil One (1981)

How much does history play into how we perceive music? Not our own history; that much should be clear to anyone who ever had personal connection to a song or artist. But what about history we’re not involved in? Specifically when it comes to Roky Erikson, the legendary singer/guitarist/songwriter for early psychedelic band the 13th Floor Elevators. I was aware of his tragic history the same instant I first heard him – intro’d by Henry Rollins on his KCRW radio show. Does knowing of his troubles and schizophrenia diagnosis (not to mention the abuse while detained at Rusk State Hospital and copious amounts of electro-shock therapy) color my perception of The Evil One, his debut album (depending how and where you first heard it), making it stand out differently than if I just heard it blind? I don’t know, and honestly I’m not sure it matters.

ChrisSeptember 9, 2024September 9, 2024Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: rock and roll

Takeshi Terauchi: Eleki Bushi 1966-1974 (2023)

Motörhead: The Manticore Tapes (2025)

Bella and the Bizarre: Bella and the Bizarre (2024)

New York Dolls: New York Dolls (1973)

American Aquarium: The Fear Of Standing Still (2024)

Roky Erikson: The Evil One (1981)