You can hear Christmas Music from many of your Comboland favorites on Comboland Radio! The dB's, Southern Culture On The Skids, Arrogance, The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team, selections from Holly Raleigh Christmas and more are playing right now!
For live Comboland music during the holidays check out one of these great shows!
An email from The dB's website states:
"The dB's will play a brief Christmas set at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC, on Thursday, Dec. 16 as part of Trekky Records Christmas at the Cradle 2010 A Benefit for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society featuring as The dB's: Peter, Chris, Will, Mitch." This sounds like a fun show!
SCOTS has several shows during late December. The 16th they're in Charleston at The Charleston Pourhouse, 17th in Wilmington NC at The Soapbox, the 18th at the Berkley Cafe in Raleigh, and New Years Eve in Charlottesville at The Jefferson Theater! Man!!! That will be some rockin' New Years Eve!
Christmas night Terry Anderson will again celebrate his birthday with his pals in The Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team at The Pourhouse in Raleigh. I missed last years as the world's biggest OAK Team fan, my wife, was quite sick. We WILL be at this show and you should be to. By Christmas night you'll need a break from relatives anyway.
And New Years Eve the place to be in The Triangle is The Cat's Cradle for Arrogance! What a great way to bring in 2011!!! And there is no telling what sort of surprises the boys will have in store for us! Get your tickets in advance so you don't miss out!
I'm sure there are TONS of other shows! Email me and I'll spread the word.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Holla Band, Fast Annie, Remembering David...
Today is the 3rd anniversary of the passing of David Enloe. So it was about 3 years ago I started to dig out all of my old vinyl to listen to. I got to hear all of my favorite bands, think about old friends and get inspired to share it all with the world. I regret not having enough time to adequately spend on Comboland Radio but I do what I can in hope one day I'll have time to do more. I do still occasionally add more music. Tune in now and you will hear two new additions, "The Holla Band" and "Fast Annie".
The Holla Band played around a bunch as I remember hearing the name, but I don't think I ever saw them. That is a shame as I can tell by the LP, release on Moonlight Records in early '82, I would have enjoyed them. The LP I found was in very good shape and required very little cleanup. There is a very small Facebook group devoted to Holla but it appears not to have been visited much lately. Matt Barrett has some photos on his site devoted to NC music. And one of the former members has a page with the band on it as well. The tunes sound great on Comboland Radio.
"Fast Annie" featured ex arrogance member Mike Greer, was produced and engineered by arrogance member Don Dixon and was recorded where Don did much of his recording and producing, Reflection Sound Studios. Released on Chelsea records the LP has a couple of tunes that fit well on Comboland Radio, both written by Greer, "Laugh At The World" and "My Baby's Alright". They are playing now on Comboland Radio.
Robert Kirkland is involved with a couple of new projects I hope to track down and add soon. I have some unanswered messages to catch up on too. Maybe this weekend...
Tonight is a sort of celebration of David's life as the Comboland Radio staff (Missie and I) are going to see some live music. SCOTS is playing out here on the OBX. So we get a little taste of home, and maybe a piece of fried chicken.
The Holla Band played around a bunch as I remember hearing the name, but I don't think I ever saw them. That is a shame as I can tell by the LP, release on Moonlight Records in early '82, I would have enjoyed them. The LP I found was in very good shape and required very little cleanup. There is a very small Facebook group devoted to Holla but it appears not to have been visited much lately. Matt Barrett has some photos on his site devoted to NC music. And one of the former members has a page with the band on it as well. The tunes sound great on Comboland Radio.
"Fast Annie" featured ex arrogance member Mike Greer, was produced and engineered by arrogance member Don Dixon and was recorded where Don did much of his recording and producing, Reflection Sound Studios. Released on Chelsea records the LP has a couple of tunes that fit well on Comboland Radio, both written by Greer, "Laugh At The World" and "My Baby's Alright". They are playing now on Comboland Radio.
Robert Kirkland is involved with a couple of new projects I hope to track down and add soon. I have some unanswered messages to catch up on too. Maybe this weekend...
Tonight is a sort of celebration of David's life as the Comboland Radio staff (Missie and I) are going to see some live music. SCOTS is playing out here on the OBX. So we get a little taste of home, and maybe a piece of fried chicken.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Free Music Blogs
What do Chris Stamey, Let's Active, The Killer Whales, The X-Teens, and The Woods Have in common? Several things of course... but one you may not be aware of. Then again.... All of these artists, along with thousands of others, have their works "featured" on music blogs where you can download the for free! Sounds great right?!? I'm not too sure.
It's a fairly recent phenomenon that seems to have exploded in the past few years. Literally thousands of blogs have cropped up that "feature" mostly out of print recordings and most of these sites allow you to download the entire recording for free. Are you looking for a copy of the hard to find "Precision Auto" 7 inch by Superchunk? It's available... for free... you just have to know where to look. You don't need Limewire, Bit Torrent or anything except a browser and some rudimentary knowledge of file extraction and mp3 files. Some have complete artwork ready for you to print out just in case you want to make your own CD.
I'll be honest. I don't know how I feel about these blogs. On one hand some of this stuff is never going to be re-released in any form. These bloggers aren't making any money themselves. Most seem to be passionate fans of a specific genre of music. Most have a policy of removing a link of the artist objects or if the material is re-released. In fact I pointed out to one blogger that the "Van DeLecki's" "Letters From the Desk of Count S.Van Delecki" was still commercially available and he quickly removed the download link and replaced it with a link to the page on CD Baby where you can buy the CD. However it does seem to me that the artists are still getting ripped off.
I do know that Terry Anderson and Jack Cornell had been working on a Woods box set but that seems to have stalled. Terry said something to effect of "why should I spend the money to put it out when it's already out there for free"? Specifically "It's Like This" is on one of these blogs, despite the fact that Twin Tone will still make you a copy on a custom CD for $15. Also floating around is The Wood's "Lost Album". Never released the "free" copy's quality is not great, but the songs sure are. I, for one, would have plopped down the cash for the box set JUST to hear decent copies of these songs. I don't think it's happening. Is it because of these blogs? Are blogs like this preventing artists from making some of their pasts works available to their fans?
I tried my hand at legally selling music on The Comboland Radio website. For 2 years I had all but one of the Arrogance recordings available. We sold a few downloads, but it cost twice the dollar amount we sold to host the website and pay the fees for the "shopping cart" and to accept PayPal. NOT a good business model! I was surprised too. But after thinking about it all of the fans we have seen at the shows in recent years probably had the stuff already. Not everybody felt the need to replace their vinyl with the digital downloads... although they do sound good. Also I shouldn't have sold individual songs. For the same amount of storage space and inventory items I should have tried harder to get some of the other bands to sell some of their out of print stuff there too. Still I'm not sure it would have ever broken even.
I guess I could put the Arrogance stuff up on a blog of my own! I guess I could put ALL of the vinyl have I digitized for Comboland Radio up on a blog somewhere!! (It's quite a bit!) Hell I could put up the all of out of print CDs I have too!!! I could... but I can't. I was a suspected music bootlegger in the 80's. While working at Reflection Sound Studios the studio recorded 4 live R.E.M. shows. OF COURSE a few copies were circulated by the staff. However copies of 2 of the shows got to the outside world. It wasn't nefarious... it didn't involve me... and it was an innocent mistake. However I DID hear about it and several people were/are convinced I bootlegged the tapes. I didn't, but I felt horrible. R.E.M wasn't this huge band yet. I had seen them many times in clubs and dives in the south. I had friends who were working with them. I wouldn't have done anything to take money out of any of their pockets. I still feel the same way.(By the way... I still have my tapes. I check the R.E.M. bootleg list every now and then and as of yet the 2 shows I have are not listed anywhere.)
For what it's worth Comboland Radio is a "legal" Internet broadcast and pays all of the music licensing fees through Live365 (although I would be GREATLY surprised if ANY of the artists ever receive a penny of what I pay in... but that is a another blog for another time).
Again... I don't really know how I feel about these blogs... but they are in great abundance and cover every form of music imaginable. I would be interested in your point of view. If the musicians and artists are against this type of "sharing" then I would have to side with them. Just know that no matter what "the man" does to prevent the sharing of music on the Internet people will figure out a different way to do it.
With all of that said I have just transferred 2 albums to digital, both with Triangle ties, that will start playing legally on Comboland Radio later this week.
It's a fairly recent phenomenon that seems to have exploded in the past few years. Literally thousands of blogs have cropped up that "feature" mostly out of print recordings and most of these sites allow you to download the entire recording for free. Are you looking for a copy of the hard to find "Precision Auto" 7 inch by Superchunk? It's available... for free... you just have to know where to look. You don't need Limewire, Bit Torrent or anything except a browser and some rudimentary knowledge of file extraction and mp3 files. Some have complete artwork ready for you to print out just in case you want to make your own CD.
I'll be honest. I don't know how I feel about these blogs. On one hand some of this stuff is never going to be re-released in any form. These bloggers aren't making any money themselves. Most seem to be passionate fans of a specific genre of music. Most have a policy of removing a link of the artist objects or if the material is re-released. In fact I pointed out to one blogger that the "Van DeLecki's" "Letters From the Desk of Count S.Van Delecki" was still commercially available and he quickly removed the download link and replaced it with a link to the page on CD Baby where you can buy the CD. However it does seem to me that the artists are still getting ripped off.
I do know that Terry Anderson and Jack Cornell had been working on a Woods box set but that seems to have stalled. Terry said something to effect of "why should I spend the money to put it out when it's already out there for free"? Specifically "It's Like This" is on one of these blogs, despite the fact that Twin Tone will still make you a copy on a custom CD for $15. Also floating around is The Wood's "Lost Album". Never released the "free" copy's quality is not great, but the songs sure are. I, for one, would have plopped down the cash for the box set JUST to hear decent copies of these songs. I don't think it's happening. Is it because of these blogs? Are blogs like this preventing artists from making some of their pasts works available to their fans?
I tried my hand at legally selling music on The Comboland Radio website. For 2 years I had all but one of the Arrogance recordings available. We sold a few downloads, but it cost twice the dollar amount we sold to host the website and pay the fees for the "shopping cart" and to accept PayPal. NOT a good business model! I was surprised too. But after thinking about it all of the fans we have seen at the shows in recent years probably had the stuff already. Not everybody felt the need to replace their vinyl with the digital downloads... although they do sound good. Also I shouldn't have sold individual songs. For the same amount of storage space and inventory items I should have tried harder to get some of the other bands to sell some of their out of print stuff there too. Still I'm not sure it would have ever broken even.
I guess I could put the Arrogance stuff up on a blog of my own! I guess I could put ALL of the vinyl have I digitized for Comboland Radio up on a blog somewhere!! (It's quite a bit!) Hell I could put up the all of out of print CDs I have too!!! I could... but I can't. I was a suspected music bootlegger in the 80's. While working at Reflection Sound Studios the studio recorded 4 live R.E.M. shows. OF COURSE a few copies were circulated by the staff. However copies of 2 of the shows got to the outside world. It wasn't nefarious... it didn't involve me... and it was an innocent mistake. However I DID hear about it and several people were/are convinced I bootlegged the tapes. I didn't, but I felt horrible. R.E.M wasn't this huge band yet. I had seen them many times in clubs and dives in the south. I had friends who were working with them. I wouldn't have done anything to take money out of any of their pockets. I still feel the same way.(By the way... I still have my tapes. I check the R.E.M. bootleg list every now and then and as of yet the 2 shows I have are not listed anywhere.)
For what it's worth Comboland Radio is a "legal" Internet broadcast and pays all of the music licensing fees through Live365 (although I would be GREATLY surprised if ANY of the artists ever receive a penny of what I pay in... but that is a another blog for another time).
Again... I don't really know how I feel about these blogs... but they are in great abundance and cover every form of music imaginable. I would be interested in your point of view. If the musicians and artists are against this type of "sharing" then I would have to side with them. Just know that no matter what "the man" does to prevent the sharing of music on the Internet people will figure out a different way to do it.
With all of that said I have just transferred 2 albums to digital, both with Triangle ties, that will start playing legally on Comboland Radio later this week.
Monday, September 20, 2010
th' Cigaretz Jerry Williams Links
Below are additional links for information on Jerry Williams:
The first is from Beastiemania, a site devoted to The Beastie Boys, who Jerry worked with and recorded.
http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/williams_jerry/
Next is an obit from The Punk Vault.
http://www.punkvinyl.com/2010/09/20/r-i-p-jerry-williams/
Here is Jerry's MySpace page.
http://www.myspace.com/jaydublee
This is an old article from 2004 but scroll down to the heading "Best local record hunter's captured prey:". Read for yourself to see this authors selection, as if you can't guess.
http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/music-and-clubs/Content?oid=1191951
An obit with a few external links you may find interesting from Brooklyn Vegan.
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/09/jerry_williams.html
Another obituary from Papermag. In the comments below the obit there are details of an upcoming memorial in New York.
http://www.papermag.com/2010/09/jerry_lee_williams_obituary.php
David Menconi wrote an article about a website that claimed Miley Cyrus ripped off th' Cigaretz "Apartmentalivin".
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/category/tags/Fly-on-the-Wall
Sad Cigaretz News
...Opened up Facebook this morning at 3:45 to some sad news posted by Terry Anderson. Jerry Williams of Raleigh's Cigaretz has died, just a few days shy of his 62nd birthday.
For many, myself included, the Cigz was their first live exposure to a real punk band. Playing countless gigs at the Free Advice th' Cigaretz certainly made a name for themselves and carved out a nice fan base. Their lone DIY LP is classic! Yet it doesn't quite capture all of the noise and intensity of seeing them live.
How important were th' Cigaretz? Read Sam Hick's 1998 article "How North Carolina Got It's Punk Attitude". Go read it now... The three paragraphs devoted to th' Cigaretz might put it in perspective. It also details a bit of Jerry's life after th' Cigaretz which had to be quite exciting at times.
I saw them a number of times during their heyday. But one show I didn't see was one where they opened for Arrogance in Chapel Hill at The Town Hall. That show is a bit Woodstock-esque in that more people remember being at that show than the place would ever hold!! I believe it was Byron that turned one of the stage monitors speaker side up, filled it with cereal and milk and ate out of it. Hopefully someone will recall that story and it's repercussions.
Rest in peace Jerry. Your fans and friends love and remember.
I'll try to play more tunes from the LP starting tomorrow on Comboland Radio.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Killer Whales - States - SCOTS - Stratocruiser - Leisure McCorkle
The revamped Skidmart at the SCOTS website is open! The new release "Kudzu Ranch" is available in LP, CD and digital download. When you buy "Kudzu Ranch" in any format you get a digital download for free which includes alternate takes of 4 tunes. (hint... the free version of "Pig Pickin'" download is an alternate take too!) The re-issued "Too Much Pork..." is also available in CD and digital download. There are new t-shirts and other swag too. Comboland Radio has been playing a couple of tracks from "Kudzu Ranch" for a few weeks now. In celebration of the new store we have changed them up and are also featuring 2 cuts from "Too Much Pork.."(I had the original release) to get you all hopped up to go buy your own copies from the Skidmart!! As usual the tunes are mixed in with the best music new and old from the Carolinas on Comboland Radio.
I have also got some new old music to add to the rotation. I finally got a copy of the very hard to find "Big Bang" from the "Killer Whales". Their website is now dead but their music lives on. Former member David Bethany has put up a couple of pieces on youtube worth checking out.
"The States" from Norfolk, VA had 2 songs featured on "Mondo Montage" that we currently play on Comboland Radio. They also had 2 LP's and at least 2 singles previous to the MM tunes. I had one of those albums but couldn't locate it... until now.
Stratocruiser is one of my faves! So I can't believe I missed the July 27th release of their latest EP (see previous posts about my crazy work schedule...). Unlike last year's "best of" release this one is available for download and immediate gratification for the usual evil download sources. It is absolutely worth getting!
Another recent discovery for me is Leisure McCorkle. The 2002 CD I have was "on sale" at Not Lame so I picked it up. It is pure Power Pop and fab as well. Produced by Jamie Hoover (who plays and sings on it as well) it is well worth getting. It seems since this CD was released Lee has finished his PhD in Ireland and has had time to work on a new release that should be out soon. He has been playing a bunch of shows this year with a few more to come.
Listen for all of these tunes, artists and much more on Comboland Radio.
I have also got some new old music to add to the rotation. I finally got a copy of the very hard to find "Big Bang" from the "Killer Whales". Their website is now dead but their music lives on. Former member David Bethany has put up a couple of pieces on youtube worth checking out.
"The States" from Norfolk, VA had 2 songs featured on "Mondo Montage" that we currently play on Comboland Radio. They also had 2 LP's and at least 2 singles previous to the MM tunes. I had one of those albums but couldn't locate it... until now.
Stratocruiser is one of my faves! So I can't believe I missed the July 27th release of their latest EP (see previous posts about my crazy work schedule...). Unlike last year's "best of" release this one is available for download and immediate gratification for the usual evil download sources. It is absolutely worth getting!
Another recent discovery for me is Leisure McCorkle. The 2002 CD I have was "on sale" at Not Lame so I picked it up. It is pure Power Pop and fab as well. Produced by Jamie Hoover (who plays and sings on it as well) it is well worth getting. It seems since this CD was released Lee has finished his PhD in Ireland and has had time to work on a new release that should be out soon. He has been playing a bunch of shows this year with a few more to come.
Listen for all of these tunes, artists and much more on Comboland Radio.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
SCOTS - Dixon - Arrogance Gig!!
I did get some new tunes into the rotation on Comboland Radio.
As promised some of them are hard to find cuts from Southern Culture On The Skids. Their new "store" debuts on their website on September 7th. In the new store will be their new album, "Kudzu Ranch" I am playing 2 songs from it, "Pig-Pickin'" and "Come As You Are/Lucifer Sam" as we get ready to hear the whole thing! I have also encoded several singles SCOTS has released over the years, mainly for the "B" sides which are not available anywhere else. I have them playing too. They include:
Two Pigs In A Blanket
Wedding Bell Twist
BSA441
C.W. James 00-Spy
Tantrum
Tidewater Jack
Listen for these tunes and get ready to get the new SCOTS long player "Kudzu Ranch" on September 7th.
Don Dixon has a new CD out, "Don Dixon Sings The Jeffords Brothers". I got to hear some of these tunes during Dixon's visit to the OBX in March. I now have a couple of them playing on Comboland Radio. Get the CD or download from CD Baby. Dixon fans will love it. But WARNING! It does have a "Beach Music" feel about it. I know some of you have an aversion to this music. I prefer to think of it as Dixon re-visiting his soul roots. Those who know him understand that he was influenced by soul and R&B from the 60's, as were many of us. This is actually the third project he has done with the Jeffords brothers. Earlier projects with Dip Ferrell & The Truetones also included Jamie Hoover and Marti Jones. These CD's were true "Beach Music" and do sound great.
Get ready to see Don along with Robert, Marty, Scott and Rod on New Year's Eve at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. Yes... Arrogance will rock the Cradle and rock in the new year! Hey... if your life is like mine it is NOT to early to start planning and figuring out how you are going to be there. If you have missed any of the Arrogance show in the past couple of years then make it a priority to be there! You won't be sorry.
Other new songs in the Comboland Radio playlist include 2 from a "Jamie Hoover Group" 45 from 1977, Chris Stamey's "The Summer Sun" (produced by Alex Chilton) and some additional cuts from Richmond, VA's "Single Bullet Theory". I still have some other Chris Stamey songs to get in. I just need more time to work on them!
As promised some of them are hard to find cuts from Southern Culture On The Skids. Their new "store" debuts on their website on September 7th. In the new store will be their new album, "Kudzu Ranch" I am playing 2 songs from it, "Pig-Pickin'" and "Come As You Are/Lucifer Sam" as we get ready to hear the whole thing! I have also encoded several singles SCOTS has released over the years, mainly for the "B" sides which are not available anywhere else. I have them playing too. They include:
Two Pigs In A Blanket
Wedding Bell Twist
BSA441
C.W. James 00-Spy
Tantrum
Tidewater Jack
Listen for these tunes and get ready to get the new SCOTS long player "Kudzu Ranch" on September 7th.
Don Dixon has a new CD out, "Don Dixon Sings The Jeffords Brothers". I got to hear some of these tunes during Dixon's visit to the OBX in March. I now have a couple of them playing on Comboland Radio. Get the CD or download from CD Baby. Dixon fans will love it. But WARNING! It does have a "Beach Music" feel about it. I know some of you have an aversion to this music. I prefer to think of it as Dixon re-visiting his soul roots. Those who know him understand that he was influenced by soul and R&B from the 60's, as were many of us. This is actually the third project he has done with the Jeffords brothers. Earlier projects with Dip Ferrell & The Truetones also included Jamie Hoover and Marti Jones. These CD's were true "Beach Music" and do sound great.
Get ready to see Don along with Robert, Marty, Scott and Rod on New Year's Eve at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro. Yes... Arrogance will rock the Cradle and rock in the new year! Hey... if your life is like mine it is NOT to early to start planning and figuring out how you are going to be there. If you have missed any of the Arrogance show in the past couple of years then make it a priority to be there! You won't be sorry.
Other new songs in the Comboland Radio playlist include 2 from a "Jamie Hoover Group" 45 from 1977, Chris Stamey's "The Summer Sun" (produced by Alex Chilton) and some additional cuts from Richmond, VA's "Single Bullet Theory". I still have some other Chris Stamey songs to get in. I just need more time to work on them!
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