Category Archives for Video

One Slight Wrong Move – Archers Of Loaf

Artist as Rock & Roll Enthusiast (aka ARE) Post: 5

Concert night is here. Concert week is here. Four of them in the next 8 days.

Tonight is Archers of Loaf at Terminal West. Looking forward to it. I’ve never seen them before. I like this band but I love one of their albums, White Trash Heroes, their fourth and final full length album. If you’ve not heard it, check it out. It’s super solid from start to finish. My favorite song form that album is a noisy groove called “One Slight Wrong Move.”

This song kicks so much ass in just a few short minutes.

“A hundred million people could be wrong,
A hundred million people have been wrong before,
A hundred million people could be wrong”

Hard Times – Baby Huey & the Baby Sitters

Artist as Rock & Roll Enthusiast (aka ARE) Post: 4

Good God – I love the old school Funk Soul!

So much amazing music from that genre and time. I’m talking around 1965-75, before the horn sections were replaced by synthesizers. Even though I didn’t take a deep dive into the genre until my late 30’s. I always loved this music. The deep diving has revealed so much. Songs with great soulful vocal melodies, exciting rhythms and a little psychedelic rock, all mixed together. Now I feel like I found a treasure of rock and soul golden nuggets. I highly recommend you take this musical journey. Things may sound a little familiar and that would be because this musical genre is easily the most sampled of all time.

Today I’m listening to Baby Huey. He was based out of my hometown of Chicago. Produced by Curtis Mayfield, Baby Huey’s sole album  “Living Legend” is really fantastic. Unfortunately, Baby Huey died of a drug-related heart attack at age 26. “Living Legend” was posthumously released a few months later.

Big man made some great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-6xWpcPmlk

N. I. B. – Black Sabbath

Artist as Rock & Roll Enthusiast (aka ARE) Post: 3

Fifty years ago today, Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut was unleashed and released to the world. I’ve read many times that Black Sabbath set out to create a sense of horror with their songs. Something mysterious and sinister, like a scary movie but with rock and roll. Just look at the album cover art. Just listen the first notes of the first track, the song Black Sabbath and you’ll see they not only successfully reached this goal, they defined it. They defined that sound for everyone, everywhere, forever.

Millions of words have already been written about the impact of this album (and other early Black Sabbath albums) on rock and roll and the greater culture as a whole. Therefore, I’ll just mention a couple of personal anecdotes.

As an art professor I have an introduction to design project where I have students use their imaginations and create the shapes of sound. I let them choose their own songs but I play about a dozen songs that vary in mood and tempo in class as examples. The song “Black Sabbath” is always one of my choices because of how effective it is at stimulating the imagination of the listener.

I love Sabbath, especially the early stuff. However, I am (and always will be) a Led Zeppelin guy. That said, I will argue that Black Sabbath had a GREATER overall impact on rock and roll than Led Zeppelin. Black Sabbath in many ways started the engine of the heavy metal machine. Thousands of bands worldwide have taken this as their template. Led Zeppelin, despite all their success and influence, cannot say that. I believe Black Sabbath’s impact on rock and roll is second to only the Beatles.

My favorite song on this album is N. I. B. simply for it’s overall sound. I’m a sucker for a funky fat riff. It’s so easy to groove to. Interestingly though, the song has a couple of good stories about it too. Good music misunderstanding stories.

It’s always on the list of banned songs because it mentions the name Lucifer blah, blah, blah. If you actually understand the song, you’ll learn it’s written from the perspective of Lucifer as he falls in love and transforms into a good person.

The title has it’s own misunderstanding as well that I find pretty funny. Most think “N. I. B.” stands for “Nativity In Black.” It doesn’t, it’s basically an inside joke about Bill Ward’s facial hair. You can read about it here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath_(album), (then click on the link for the song, don’t know why the direct link isn’t working). Basically, that name has been imposed on the song by just about everyone. So today, it un-officially does stand for “Nativity In Black,” because this is what the world wants.

So here you are. Presented in honor of the fifty year anniversary of the release of Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut (and the birth of heavy metal).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwLQw_95hX0

Stay – David Bowie

Artist as Rock & Roll Enthusiast (aka ARE) Post: 1

My first ARE post is my second favorite David Bowie song. It came up on shuffle today (Golden Years is my favorite) and reminded me why it’s such a good song. Its got so much. Played it a few times in a row. Give it a listen.

Artist Talk: The Edge Of Convergence

Brett Callero artist talk at Jacksonville State University, Thursday, February 5, 2015.

Brett Callero: The Edge Of Convergence

February 5 – February 26, 2015
Hammond Hall Art Gallery
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, Alabama

An Ode To The Megacorporation

It took exactly a month to get internet service in my new home. It’s tough dealing with large corporations that do not have enough competition to keep them in line in regard to service and reasonable expectations. I’m looking at you Comcast! I’m also looking at you DirectTV and AT&T!

I’ve exhausted all I can say or write about it. What remains to explain my feelings is this amazing song “The Man Don’t Give A Fuck” from an amazing band Super Furry Animals. I think it says what needed to be said so very well.

What A Wookie!

chewbaccaguitar

Alright, I’ll admit it. Once in a while I have to laugh at what gets past me. Star Wars references have been popping up all week. I’ve been consumed with so much else I never made the May 4th connection until this morning. I felt a little dull about it at first, then decided to do something about it. Ha! Which was to bring it all back to rock & roll.

What? Me? Giving in to a distracting impulse filled with creativity and music? Never!

Chewbacca, what a wookie!

 

 

Happening In Unreal Time

We all know Livin’ On A Prayer, Bon Jovi’s #1 hit from 1987. Whether you liked the song or not, you heard it, it was everywhere. For the last 15-20 years, its probably been heard most often in a passive setting where the music was chosen for the listener, such as: the radio, a bar, a wedding reception or even a sporting event.

One of these passive settings, a sporting event, has created a call to action. Livin’ On A Prayer re-entered the Billboard Top 40 singles chart this week. What caused the spike in sales? A video of a fan performing to the song at a sporting event. You’ve probably seen it by now. I recall seeing the video in 2009 when it was first posted. Apparently it has only now truly become a viral video, or perhaps it is viral again.

So let’s get this straight. A song from 1987 has charted in 2013 with a big help from a viral video made in 2009. What dimension are we living in when moments like this occur and play out in an influential manner? If time itself is the fourth dimension, what is this? If we live in what we call real time, what is this? Unreal time?

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/chart-alert/5793370/bon-jovis-prayer-re-enters-hot-100-due-to-viral-revival?utm_source=twitter

Here is the video that brought us into unreal time. I posted it, for contextual purposes only, in case you’re one of the few people that haven’t watched it yet.

Life Is Built To Spill And Clean Up

I am an artist that is influenced by music as much as anything else. I’ll listen to loud rock & roll as long as I can hear. I’ll attend rock concerts as long as I can walk. I listen to music as much as possible and use it as a method to focus and think. Within this obsession I inhabit a space that is mine alone. This is extremely difficult for me to do without music. Ideas flourish within my mind and become a visual work of art through the visual translation made while listening to or being influenced by music. Recently, I had an experience that resonated in a way that I’ll likely visually translate at some point in time. I’m referring to those moments when the soundtrack to life feels very real and the powerful feeling that overcomes when this happens to you.

Last week, this experience happened at a Built To Spill concert.  The whole experience was spontaneous. I was invited by a friend from out of town that I had not seen in years. I made it to the concert very because I teach class until 7:30 and I needed to host my radio show, the Fuzz Factory for the next two hours. I love my radio gig and I make the quality a priority. I don’t have that many listeners, but most that listen are regulars and I especially never want to cancel on them at the last minute. All this means that I missed most of the show but made it in time for half of Broken Chairs, a great song. Unfortunately, that’s it. The end of the regular set. I saw barely anything, but I saw enough to know what everyone told me about Doug Martsch. So loose and tight at the same time. I am definitely going to see them in concert again. With two guitarists beside Martsch, their sound is more full and powerful live than on CD.

What I did experience was an encore full of unreal cover songs seemingly chosen just for me. I say chosen for me because they primarily covered songs that for reasons well known to me have been on my mind these days. They played Train In Vain by the Clash – an all-time favorite of mine. They also played How Soon Is Now? by the Smiths, a song I love so much almost in spite of the fact I never liked the Smiths much overall. This was a very memorable moment. Since it was completely unexpected I was able to enjoy it immensely while it hit me with an amazing amount of self-awareness. It was the soundtrack of my life.

If that wasn’t amazing enough. The other two songs they played in the encore were a cover of Don’t Fear The Reaper (perfect for minutes after my Fuzz Factory Halloween Special from earlier in the evening) and SludgeFeast by Dinosaur Jr., perfect for any evening.

Never underestimate the powers of rock & roll.