CNQ Interview with Bob Katz, the Mangfather

Back in December I did this e-mail interview with Bob Katz, AKA the Mangfather. Bob's a musician based out of Brooklyn, and almost a year ago now, he released arguably the best quarantine album of the epidemic, Six Cans of Olives. which was on the Canadian Hip Hop Top Ten album list for several months and voted the top track of 2021 by CKWR: Off the Grid, as well as charting in the top 50 of the 2020 LGBT Music Chart. We started the interview by talking about that album.

The Mangfather Bob Katz · Six Cans of Olives

CNQ: It sounds like you recorded something of a pandemic album just by virtue of that's what was going on at the time. (Six Cans of Olives) covers quarantine, maskless assholes, a vacation to the woods and to the beach, then ends with you back home keeping 6 ft social distance with pigeons wearing masks. Did the material happen organically over the course of the year or did you say "I think I want to record a pandemic album" after things settled down a bit? What did you use to play and record the album?

BOB KATZ (BK): It was really an organic process. The album started right at the beginning of the lockdown here in NYC. My spouse and I had just gotten back from my first-ever Caribbean vacation, where we had spotty internet and couldn’t really tell what was going on in the world. We arrived home to a city in panic, with people hoarding food and other critical supplies. I went to my local supermarket and found almost nothing left. I turned my head and saw a huge shelf of olive cans sitting there, and I started imagining what would happen if the only food that I could find left was olives. Suddenly the phrase “six cans of olives” hit me and the melody came into my head. I ran home with a jar of peanut butter, two loaves of bread (one of which I stuck in the freezer to preserve it just in case), and six cans of olives, got on my computer and started writing the song, Six Cans of Olives. After I recorded it, I started making a video to go with the release. By that time, we were being told to mask up but it was impossible to get a mask anywhere. So we were being encouraged to be creative and to make our own face masks. So in the video I reflected the insanity of that time by wearing insane useless homemade masks including underwear and finally, a jock strap on my face. Then I put out the song “Six Cans of Olives” as a single. It started to do pretty well and it made me realize that I could contribute to the COVID relief effort through my music. So I decided to put out a COVID-themed album. It also gave me a big project to work on to distract myself from the constant anxiety that marked the beginning of the pandemic. In working on the album, I became aware that as an introverted musician, I am uniquely sutied to cope with a lockdown and that in fact, I have coping skills that I could share with others. Hence came the song “Off the Grid”, which ends with the line “I was made for this shit!” The three-song cycle of folks fleeing to the country, then the beach, and then finally running back home came directly out of my envy and schadenfreude around what was going on in NYC during the lockdown. Rich people were fleeing the city for their vacation homes while the rest of us were stuck in our tiny apartments like rats in cages. But then I remembered that the rural vacation areas outside of NYC have really high rates of Lyme Disease tics so I started to imagine what would happen if all these rich folks were to come down with Lyme Disease in addition to COVID. And hence, the song, Corona n’ Lyme, which of course, is also a play on the popular beer named Corona, which is advertised to go really well with lime (it does)! Then I started to read about the strange phenomenon of Great White Sharks being spotted on the shores around NYC, particularly in the wealthy vacation beaches like the Hamptons. So of course, in my envy, I started to imagine these rich people getting eaten by sharks and hence the song, Corona n’ Shark! I recorded and produced the album using Logic Pro 9. I use an M-Audio 49 keyboard and I also plug in my Martin acoustic-electric guitar and my Rode condenser vocal mike.

CNQ: We felt the same way about quarantine, like we were made for it. Both the wife and I are lazy and, while not anti-social, we can go for long periods without social interaction and be just fine entertaining ourselves. I listened to your interview on Radio Kingston where you said you and your spouse were living separately through much of the pandemic and that was difficult for you. I hope it's easier to see each other these days.

BK:Conrad and I have had a bi-borough relationship for 22 years. He lives in Manhattan and I live in Brooklyn. We didn’t see each other for the first 4 months of the lockdown because Conrad is older than me and I was afraid of getting him sick. My neighborhood has done really badly and continues to do badly during the pandemic. Folks are not getting vaccinated and have not been wearing masks indoors, even during the height of the pandemic. Many people have died. When I saw Conrad in person for the first time in 4 months, I started to cry and I just couldn’t stop. Since then, we’ve gone back to spending weekends with eachother and it’s been such a relief.

CNQ: In that same interview you mentioned you are a Joni Mitchell fan. I'm a big fan of hers as well. My favorite album of hers is The Hissing of Summer Lawns. Do you have a favorite Mitchell album or song?

BK: OMG Joni Mitchell is my God! If I had a nickel for every time I answered a question with ‘as Joni Mitchell said…’, I would be a very wealthy person. I’m completely obsessed with all of her albums, including The Hissing of Summer Lawns (I own a vinyl copy), but I would have to say the album that I listen to most when I get down is that old standby, Blue. The song The Last Time I Saw Richard, moves me to no end.

CNQ: You mentioned a wide range of artists you listen to now -- what artists did you grow up listening to? What radio stations?

BK: I’m such a lyrics person, so the confessional singer-songwriters of the 70’s (e.g., Janis Ian, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Sandy Denny, Joni Mitchell, Richard and Linda Thompson, Paul Simon) drew me like a magnet. When I was 9, my older sister brought home a copy of Carly Simon’s album, We Have No Secrets, and it changed my life. When the song, The Carter Family, came on, I started crying and I played that song over and over again. Something about the music combined with the lyrics and the vocals was so powerful to me. That’s why my fantasy was always to be a singer-songwriter in the confessional folk rock vein, and I started out working with Pete Kennedy, from the great folk rock duo, The Kennedys. In fact, Pete produced my first album, When Good Mangos Go Bad, which I recorded under the artist name, Bob Katz. But even though the album was an underground success, particularly in the punk and even heavy metal circles (I was asked to be a regular on a radio show run by the band Twisted Sister), I was considered too raw for most of the folk rock set and I knew that this was not the genre for me. I was a genre-less cowboy for a while, running the most prominant singer-songwriter coffeehouse in NYC for over 6 years and even writing, producing, and performing a one-man Off-Broadway musical theater piece called Quasimango, The Lunchbox of Notre Dame. But a vocal injury sustained during the unamplified Quasimango piece led serendipidously to my experimenting with hip-hop and rap when I wrote and recorded the song, Caught in a Butt Sandwich. The song and particularly the accompanying video, became such an expected cult hit (> 100,000 views on Google+, etc.) that I was convinced to put out a hip-hop album entitled Caught in a Butt Sandwich, which also became a hit (year end top-ten lists, etc). I became aware of rap music at the age of 15, when I first heard the song, The Message, by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on the radio. I was totally blown away and it showed me how powerful rap could be as a means of communicating truth in song. The crazy thing is it was not till later that year that I realized that my own sister was referenced in the lyrics of The Message, in the lines, “they pushed that girl in front of the train, took her to the doctor sewed her arm on again.” In a famous bit of NYC history, my sister, Renee Katz, a flutist who had just been admitted to the New England Conservatory of Music, was pushed in front of a subway train on her way to the High School of Music and Art. Her hand was severed and later reattached in one of the first microsurgery operations in history. I loved the song The Message, but it was traumatizing to hear my sister’s assault being referenced over and over again on the radio. I make reference to this bizarre situation in my song, The Good Old Days, which is the 2nd song on the Caught in a Butt Sandwich album. I actually believe that The Good Old Days is the best song that I’ve written thus far, although I also think that its rawness makes some people uncomfortable, I guess like most of my stuff!

The Mangfather Bob Katz · Caught In a Butt Sandwich (Clean)

CNQ: With things opening back up, do you have plans to play any live venues any time soon? (Note: this interview was conducted shortly before the Omnicron wave exploded in the States -- Matt)

BK: I’d love to do a tour, especially of Canada, where the album has been a particular success (e.g., it went to #2 on Canadian hip-hop chart), but I don’t think it’s going to happen for a while. Most of the places where I normally play haven’t opened up yet and I’m still very wary about taking off my mask indoors with folks I don’t know, particulary with the apparent infectiousness of the Omiron variant.

CNQ: The humor in your songs may make more sensitive listeners blanche, I would imagine, but from what I've heard you're never punching down. I also tend to work "blue" with my songwriting, but I'm always worried I may unintentionally offend someone, even tho my #1 rule is "don't punch down." Do you worry at all about offending people with raunchy or crass lyrics, and have you ever encountered someone at a live show who took offense at something you never would have thought would piss off anybody?

BK: Yes, this is such a big issue for me Matt! If I had a dime for every time I’ve been disinvited to a gig after I’ve been booked because of something someone heard on the internet, I’d be rich by now. One time in my folk rock days when I was performing a song I wrote called Kick in the Teeth, about being physically and emotionally abused by my father, I dropped an F-bomb and an entire row of the audience immediately walked out in mass! I could not believe it. One time, I asked the great singer-songwriter Cliff Eberhardt about my concern that I would hurt members of my family with my music and I’ll never forget his response. He looked me in the eye and he goes, “That’s a muse-killer, man!" So I’ve decided not to let the concern about offending some people stop me from speaking my truth. But I’m no high-minded purist, believe me. I always make an alternative radio-friendly version of my albums because I still want to get played!

CNQ: Can you talk more about your next project after Six Cans of Olives?

BK: I really have no idea what’s next, which is probably a good thing. I’ve written many songs that I’d like to record at some point, so I’ll probably just go back to my instruments and fool around. I’m actually toying with the idea of going back to a more stripped-down folk rock sound on my next album, but hey, you never know…

To purchase Six Cans of Olives, visit: http://www.themangfather.com

Catching Up

Been enjoying the fact TT.FM is back. Playing a little catch-up tonight. Better late than never.

From the EP "Coming Soon to an Alley Near You," released back in December. Toronto-based hardcore, super-cool:

TheSlime · The Day the Earth Stood Still

Dream Society Records is a new Amsterdam-based "female-lead yin label," headed by artist/producer Bloom De Wilde. Here's a 10 track introduction to the label, featuring my main man Brian Bordello on one track. Great stuff:

Mother Water House is from Austin. "no.angel" seems 80s goth inspired, until it gets heavy and becomes its own thing. I love it. "The only angel here is Abandon" is a great line:

Blues rock usually not my thing recorded, but I enjoy seeing it live. There's nothing wrong with this, Jacob Green is from Vermont, and this is from the album "Little Courage," released February 2020:

From the same promoter, Ryan Summers is from Wisconsin and while the album on first listen isn't for me, this track caught my ear. Released back in October, the album "captures his experiences deprogramming from an internet cult over a decade ago," which is interesting:

Epilogues is from Leeds, and this track is from an EP called "me," which was released back in November. Subtle singer-songwriter type stuff, highly enjoyable:

Epilogues · Me

Pleasant pop from Manchester:

Tingo Tongo Tapes

Tingo Tongo Tapes is a label based out of L.A., focusing on cassette releases of experimental noise, electronic and non-electronic projects. If outsidery noise art is your bag, you'll want to check 'em out if you're not already hep. Here's a sampling of the Tingo Tongo catalog.

The latest on Tingo Tongo's Soundclound page is "Synaptic Seepage" by Squim. Here's track 10, Non-Dairy Creamer:

From last month, here is "Empire of Rusted Steel," off Psychiceyeclix by Solar Schematics:

Super-freaky from MMzblast:

I featured BE; on the March podcast. Here's another track off their weird "At The Start."

So, yeah, get your freak on with Tingo Tongo Tapes -- they've got new releases in the works as well.

Meanwhile, April's CNQ podcast will come out whenever I feel like putting it out. I've been rocking a complete recordings of J.S. Bach the past few weeks and have an acute case of T-Rexstasy as well. "The Slider" is so killer diller.

New Rock'n'Roll Videos from Sweden and France; New Rock from Pittsburgh, Michigan, and The Isle of Man

Loyal Quieteers (both of you) might have noticed it's been a couple of months since I've done a regular old CNQ blog post. I've been having a lot of fun with the podcast. But, that's my typical M.O. I'll go hard on a new project and focus on it to the detriment of anything else for a while, then eventually come back around to whatever it was I was doing before I got manic about the new thing.

So anyway, here's some new rock'n'roll.

From Malmö, Sweden's Shallow Shit Records, here's a new video from "spiritualist musical collective" Piglet Outlet:

From Strasbourg, France, here's another new video, this from the band Slaap:

Two new heavy tracks from a new split put out by two Pittsburgh bands, Cyrus Gold and T-Tops:

Bobby Hatch is a bluesy rock'n'roll band from Michigan with a new album out. Songs are in a Jack White vein:

Finally, what CNQ post would be complete without something from Small Bear Records? Here's an awesome, noisy tune from Small Bear's first ever live EP. It's a four song EP and this is the last track, from Phil Reynolds and the Dearly Departed (which is four-fifths of CNQ dears Postcode, also featured on the EP):

Strange Brew

First up, Jay and the gang over at Dynamite Hemorrhage have posted their first show of 2016. An hour's worth of quality weirdo and underground punk rock radio over there.

I found this courtesy of Nashville's Nervous Nelly Records facebook feed. Long Gone is from Boston, and it's Shannon from Nervous Nelly and folks from two bands called Curmudgeon and Disipline. It's alt-rock with a bit of a twang to it, Silver Jews-esque:

The label Song, By Toad put out my favorite comp of 2015, David Cameron's Eton Mess. Plastic Animals is from Edinburgh and Song, By Toad will be releasing their new album Pictures From the Blackout in February. Cool alt/krautgaze:

Here's the aforementioned Curmudgeon. Hardcore from all the way back in 2013:

And here's Disipline, queer BDSM punk! This is from a split cassette with a band called Stranger, released this past April. Totally rockin':

Here's a song off the Strangers side of that cassette. All of these bands are from Boston:

Also from Boston, hep R&B from Kenya born, Uganda, Canada and Boston raised Pastel:

Off Total Punk Records, the band is from New Orleans:

Horsebastard is from Liverpool. This is the video for a new song from a December released split with Madrid's Rageous Intent:

Always a pleasure to hear new hip-hop from Austin's Mirage512:

Finally, some more rad weirdness from outsider artiste Howard Blake:

http://howardblake.tumblr.com/post/135649974902

Rockin', Rollin'.

Whoa! This catches us up to the first of December. Happy Hanukkah from CNQ! This is from 2012, but still resonates today:

The Isle of Man's Small Bear Records has a new pay-what-thou-wilt Christmas album, streaming for free on their bandcamp page. It features CNQ faves Postcode, Nanaki, The Bordellos, and a lot more. Here's the first track off the comp, by Phil Reynolds and the Herald Angels. It's a rocker:

Germany's soul/funk re-issue label Tramp Records has a new Christmas comp out as well. This is Timi Terrific and the Redheads. I'm not sure when this is from -- late 70s, early 80s, I guess:

This bedroom freak-pop from Louisiana band Emotional and Minneapolis' Lawn Chair Records is from the fall:

Super-rockin' from a Minneapolis band and a London label:

A rarities and b-sides album from another Minneapolis band, The Soviettes. Great pop-punk from 2010:

Dig this Ramones-y garage punk from Germany, 2012:

These next two tracks are both from garage-happy PNKSLM:

Open Mike Eagle is hip-hop from LA and Arizona's awesome Mello Music Group:

Heavy-ish punk from Oakland band and Portland's Resurrection Records:

Another heavy track from Sorry State Records' North Carolina Series of seven inches:

Noisey hardcore from Olympia, Washington:

Cool new post-punk two song 7" from Strasborg, France:

Finally, some super-freaky spoken word from Philidelphia:

New Hip-Hop y Punk from Early October

The following catches us up with CNQ faves from the first week or so of October.

Great new hip-hop, rad video. This premiered on The Source but just in case you missed it, check it out. "Put a rapper in a wheelchair like Degrassi" wins my vote for coolest line of 2015:

More wild stuff from the same duo, featuring DJ Starscream of Slipknot:

And one more, featuring Kurupt and a MASH sample:

Instrumental hip-hop from CNQ frequent feature artist Sir Froderick. You can pre-order the vinyl, due out Spring of next year:

New rock video from California twins and Burger Records:

If yr truly hep, you know this is a supergroup featuring members of Tacocat, Chasity Belt, and Pony Time. If yr not so hep, get that way:

Song, by Toad Records has put out a comp of new Scottish lo-fi rock bands called David Cameron's Eton Mess, available on vinyl. Here's one track:

New rocker from CNQ fave Small Bear Records:

I grabbed this 7" from Give Praise Records and do not regret it. Punk, metal, power violence, whatever you wanna call it, it's rad:

Glammy punk from Cleveland's The Nico Missle:

Be sure to check out CNQ bud I Heart Noise's new Boston/Mass.-centric blog, Boston Becomes Ecletic!

New Rock'n'Roll y Hip-Hop

Philidelphia's Sir Froderick and Dil Withers (I couldn't figure out where he's from) collaborated on this new, already sold out 7", Affinity. J Dilla inspired hip-hop beats + sample collage:

CNQ's favorite Irish indie rockers Cfit have their new album Throwaway Survival Machine out on September 11. The whole album is streaming here until that date, and you can pre-order here. Cool stuff as always from these guys:

The new Dope Body from Drag City. I'm excited about this record:

Rock'n'Roll from Ontario and Deranged Records:

Last but not least here's some live hip-hop from CNQ's favorite Austin rapper Mirage 512 and Side Effect from Philly, live at the Belmont down in Austin:

New tunes from CNQ fave bands y labels/distros.

This smattering of sound from CNQ faves goes back to the first of the month, and then we're caught up with bandcamp and label updates. Whew.

From French distro Crapoulet Records, Satan is punk rock from France:

From Australia's Lethal Dose Records, this is absolutely nuts:

New mellow and cool R&B single from TRAEDONYA! and Irish Soulflower:

Delaware label Jade Tree, band I think is also from Delaware, punk rock:

From Manx label Small Bear Records, the band, loyal Quieteers will know, is from Sweden. Totally cool alt-rock:

Also from Small Bear Records, new awesome from Postcode's Mikie Daugherty's solo project...instrumental guitar rock'n'roll:

CNQ's favorite Irish rockers Cfit are back with a new single. Great rock'n'roll:

From Berlin's Alien Snatch Records, the band is from Italy and the title of the album, "The Lame Shall Enter First," is from a Flannery O'Connor story. I haven't read anything by her in a while. Pretty cool garage punk:

These guys came to Denton a few weeks ago and I wanted to drive up but didn't. Should have:

PNKSLM's having a 50% off sale.

That catches us up with the new cool. I got some old 45s I want to share, as always. We'll see when I get around to it.

New Punk y Hip-Hop

Rippin' 80s-style hc from Savannah:

More hc, this from the UK:

Hip-hop from Austin:

Mississippi's Criminal Slang, from a new split with Dallas' Pavel Chekov:

Speaking of Pavel Chekov, here's a live track from a tape release the band is making available at live shows only:

New Music.

Dallas' warpcore purists Pavel Chekov have a new split with Mississippi's Criminal Slang coming out in ten days. Here's the Pavel Checkov side -- 10 minute, 11 song blast:

The Internet doesn't seem to have anything from the Criminal Slang side of that release, but this is a song of theirs from March 2014:

Cool Ramonesy rock'n'roll from Ohio. This was released back in 2010, but Berlin's Alien Snatch is offering it up for sale thru digital, CD, and vinyl:

From Sweden and PNKSLM:

Portland's Resurrection Records is offering this colored 7" split featuring Hag Face and Babysitter. Hag Face are from Alberta. This is wild.

Powerviolence from Edinburgh:

Egghunt Records has this new synth-pop from Denver available on black vinyl 7":

New Sounds.

Austinite Mirage512 and his frequent producer Trill Gates have teamed up with a cat named Side Effect; the result is solid conscious rap and a powerful video:

Courtesy I Heart Noise and Boston Hassle:

Cool, weirdo Swedish indie-pop from Shallow Shit Records:

London psych, I like this a lot:

From LA and Recess Records:

A tribute to Spazz from Edinburgh's Mindripper Collective. Per Wikipedia, Spazz was an influential powerviolence band from California during the 90s. I didn't even know powerviolence was a thing in the 1990s, and I lived all of them, more or less. I think I woulda identified this stuff as "crust punk" back then. Anyway, listen to this whole thing if you're into this wild heavy metal/punk hybrid stuff they call grindcore/powerviolence/crust/etc....

New Rockers From Around The World; Alternate Title: World-Rockin'

Let's get caught up with new releases from the past month-plus and then later this week I have some old 45s I want to share.

Nu-gaze from Australia:

More nu-gaze from Rome:

This was on Stereogum already but it's cool and just in case you haven't heard it, "grunge-pop" from St. Petersburg:

Weirdo punk from London:

Lo-fi folk-rock from Dublin:

Lo-fi indie rock from Sweden:

HC from a 7" split with Poison Idea, courtesy Sweden's Just 4 Fun Records:

Over on their bandcamp page, I Heart Noise has a great 100 song retrospective featuring their faves from the past five years. Highly recommended:

Best for last:

Blastin'

I've been away for a couple of weeks, so this post is some catching up with some new stuff from the U.S. and abroad, courtesy CNQ's fave labels and bands on bandcamp.

Robert Belfour was a Mississippi bluesman who died at age 74 this past February 24. I have been sadly ignorant of Belfour and his work until tonight. R.I.P., Robert Belfour:

Pretty little garage rocker by the Lemons. They're from Chicago:

This Brooklyn band has a Paper Chase thing going on:

This was put out two years ago but it's new to me, and I like it:

Birthday Suits are from Minneapolis/St. Paul and the label, Recess Records, is outta LA:

Here's an L.A. band, also from Recess:

These are both courtesy France's Frantic City Records:

CNQ fave avant-folkie Clara Engel has teamed up with an experimental minimalist from the UK on this track:

From Wales' Small Bear Records and Sweden's "jazz-tinged indie" band Club K, this is so hep:

Speaking of the Swedes and their rich traditions of modern popular music, here's some Swedish punk:

New awesomeness from Poland's first DIY label, Nikt Nic Nie Wie:

I'm into this punk 7" from German label Terrortubbies Tonträger. Love that organ:

More hc from another German label, Sabotage Records:

Ska's not really my thing but these UK punks have a cool thing going on:

Oh, you wanted to hear some Peruvian wandering folk beatniks? Well, turn it up:

More "skramz," man, from Indiana and Middle Man Records, this is 30 seconds of rad:

Raleigh North Carolina's Sorry State Records just brings it and brings it:

You can pre-order the new Dirty Fences through the Slovenly Records bandcamp page:

This is interesting breakbeat that uses samples from Abbey Road. Cassette orders are sold out:

Rounding out this long set with three new hip-hop tracks from the LNS Crew, which is Denver-based artist Cory Kendrix, and Austinites Kydd Jones and Tank Washington:

Savageheads, G.L.O.S.S., Glazed Baby, Clara Engel, Lucern Raze, HOLY, No Love

This great punk EP from Boston's Savageheads was released last June, but I just found out about them through CNQ's favorite Croatian distro, Doomtown Records, who has the mp3s for sale for $2 and change - they may have the vinyl too, I'm not sure. Doesn't look like anyone else on the Internet does.

This transgender hc awesomeness from Olympia has a 7" in the works. It's pay what thou wilt for mp3s in the meantime. Dig that d-beat:

I feel like I mighta shared this already, but just in case, it bears repeating. These Rhode Island noise punks recorded this in 1996, and then more was added a couple of years later. It's their last recording and Providence's Atomic Action released it onto the web, 10 songs for $5. Oh man, it's awesome:

CNQ's favorite Toronto-based singer-songwriter has two new rad tracks available for $2 USD. I don't think I've ever seen Canadian money. Maybe they just trade in good vibes. J/K. No joke though, Engel gets better and better with each release. A singular voice and talent:

From Burger and PNKSLM, this garage single from Stockholm equals awesome. Album coming in late February:

Also from PNKSLM, check out this garage-psych from HOLY (Not to be confused with the Italian hc outfit HOLY). This album is due out March 11, pre-order from the PNKSLM site if you want it, as it seems to be selling fast:

Sorry State has a new single out in their North Carolina series of singles. This is their second, sounds great. The first one featuring the The Davidians is really good too.

Ex Hex, Mind Spiders, and Party Static

The wife and I went to see Ex Hex and Mind Spiders at Club Dada in Dallas last night. We missed the opening act, Dallas-based five piece Party Static, due to a timing error on our part. We were bummed we missed them because their 6 song EP from 2013, This Isn't Music, is good stuff. Since they're local hopefully we'll catch them soon:

Mind Spiders is a band from up in Denton, their 2013 album Inhumanistic was put out by Dirtnap Records. Lead vox/guitarist Mark Ryan is also in the similarly awesome The Marked Men, but that band hasn't put out anything since 2010.

What is there to say about Ex Hex that hasn't already been said? Mary Timony is approaching legendary status, Rips, released late last year on Merge, is an excellent album, etc. It was a pleasure to see Timony shred on the guitar, and bassist Betsy Wright, who wrote a couple of the tracks on Rips, has a magnetic stage presence. They stayed after the show and (wo)manned their merch table, took pics and signed autos with the crowd, which was big by the way.

I managed to babble incoherently to Timony, before stupidly asking how long she'd been playing guitar. She was polite though and said she'd been playing since she was 13. I also managed to stare blankly at Wright, while thinking to myself, "say something cool, dummy, don't just tell her how pretty she is," before my wife politely led me away from further embarrassment. I think Wright mighta winked at me but also she mighta just had something in her eye. Mrs. CNQ got to take a pic with Timony, and all three signed the vinyl we got from them. It was an awesome evening. Rock'n'roll is here to stay:

Buck Biloxi, Liquid Skuills, Clutch: The Boy Wonder, and a Smithsonian Folkways Track from Ivan Kozlovsky/Alexander Ivanov-Kramskoy

Today at work I listened to first-of-the-year episodes of Best Table In Hell and Dynamite Hemorrhage. Both of 'em are great podcasts.

DH's Jay Hinman did a good interview with Tim Scott from Noisey Australia. At the end of it, Scott asks Hinman, "What music trends would you like to see disappear in 2015?" And Hinman sez he'd like to see "all-male bands who fashion themselves as “aggro” and “brutal” to mellow the fuck out."

I'm not an angry young man anymore, but I was once, for sure, and there's a lot of stuff to be angry about in the world. I think I have brushed my teeth with enough fluoride that I've been rendered docile. But if anger is the feeling someone wants to express, I'll break it down from there. I won't post someone who's angry at Puerto Ricans or Transhumanists, you know that. Bands who propagate racism and intolerance should be ashamed of themselves. But if you are mad at establishment culture, or the government, or the guys who kicked you out of Shadowrun, then fr sure, I totally grok.

I listened to a lot of Buck Biloxi and the Fucks today also. During my lunch break I read the Hinman/Scott interview mentioned above, and also a 2013 Terminal Boredom interview with Biloxi by Chuck Barrels. In the interview, Biloxi makes a distinction between what he terms "real punk" and "hardcore," and I made the connection between Hilman's and Biloxi's comment.

I post a lot of bands on CNQ that I think fit the description of "aggro," "brutal," and what Biloxi means by "hardcore." My wife calls it "music that is not fun" - what the kids call screamo (and, apparently, skramz?), and crust/powerviolence, and the grindcore I was familiar with growing up. But I've always labeled all of that on CNQ as "punk," just as I would a Buck Biloxi tune, or a Burger Records garage-rock band. They're all just variations on a theme, IMO.

Anyway, that's what I thought about today at work as I performed tasks.

Check out my main man Jimmy Spice's sweet nu-gazin' Liquid Skulls track:

This new hip-hop from Harlem is strangely powerful:

Smithsonian Folkways is wonderful, gang. Just wonderful. Ivan Kozlovsky was a famous Russian tenor and Alexander Ivanov-Kramskoy was a famous classical guitarist. Check out their collab, I'm not sure what year this is from. The 50s or 60s, I guess:

12 Month Rap Up (rap rap rap up)

I like to think of myself as someone with varied tastes who keeps their finger on the pulse of what's new and happening.  But really, I mostly just listened to the same old Elvis Costello albums for most of the year. But there were a few albums that broke me out of my rut! Run he Jewels 2 is #1, of course, but no one needs to hear me go on about that any further.

Chumped - Teenage Retirement

I don't think I've ever had the experience of hearing some new music that makes me nostalgic for music I didn't ever really like.  People describe this as "pop punk" but wait, I hate pop punk...right? Whatever.  This album is on constant replay in my car because it's definitely top tier car singing music.  I feel a little old to enjoy it as much as I do, it feels very much like quarter-life crisis music but I had a terrible quarter life crisis (turning 30 was no big deal but when I turned 25? I was a wreck) so I can still stand to wallow in that feeling sometimes. Something about Anika Pyle's voice cuts right to the core of those sorta whiny, sorta pathetic emotions while being so clear and beaming (and it cannot be denied, she is adorable.)  Honestly, this album is great, but so was their self-titled EP.  This is in no way a creative pick; they are on a bunch of year end lists but I can feel cool because I got into them slightly before that.

The official video for this song doesn't do it for me so I included instead this sloppy live video.


Big K.R.I.T -- Cadillactica

He is just a smooth dude, his flow just really gets me going.  He can rap fast, he can go slow, but it sounds effortless and whether he's just bragging, going into detailed descriptions of his car speakers, or more substantive stuff he's just cool as hell.  But for me, all the flow is the world is useless without hooks (if you say you don't have "Cadillac-lac-lac-lac" in your head all day, I'll know you're lying) and beats which this also delivers, he actually produces many of the tracks.  The 1-2 punch of My Sub Pt. 3 (Big Bang) and Cadillactica is like damn; "I can barely feel my face but I hit 'em with the bass." Even the skits are kinda funny, he doesn't want no given away biscuits! I like the way he says south in King of the South, I like the way he spells out Cadillactica, I like how he spells out K.R.I.T, he could spell out anything for me (I might also find him very attractive.)



Speedy Ortiz - Real Hair EP

I was nutso for their full-length Major Arcana last year and like this EP even more. I was never deep into Pavement so the constant comparison is just annoying to me; I hear the influence but let's just move on, shall we? I love her voice, the weirdo lyrics, the weird melodies.  My favorite track is "Everything's Bigger."





Tacocat - NVM

They are too cute and too fun.  I was initially lured in by Crimson Wave because, yes, I'd like some white wine and Vicodin during my "time of the month" at the beach. But then I heard Hey Girl and it was all over, namely because of their response to random men telling women to smile ( a pet peeve of mine since I work on a public reference desk; wouldn't it be way weirder if I just sat there smiling into space?): "oh what great advice/can't imagine why you're so nice!" with a heavy dose of playful sarcasm. The whole album is very fun, Psychedelic Quinceanera being another standout ("she will wear her teenage tiara/but she will party like a queen.")  It's not everyday that I find a fun band making funny, feminist jams like this!



Vince Staples - Hell Can Wait EP

I initially listened to this because I thought the cover was really eye-catching; straight up judging books by their covers. I thought I only liked fun hip hop but this EP is dead serious.  He's not going for crazy word play, the lyrics are mostly straight forward with the occasional interesting turn of phrase.  I think I vibe more on his tone and flow than the lyrics (I also think he's very cute, he's working that tooth gap.)  The beats are eerie and kind of menacing (that mournful jazzy intro on 65 Hunnid is the best example but the album starts with some hella spooky beats on Fire.) and many of the hooks get me all amped up and that's what really made me listen to it repeatedly. On Blue Suede, I didn't even realize what the "the bouquet, the bouquet" was at first, just thought it sounded super cool (it's about flowers on a grave, duh.) There's a song called Hands Up which is a Ferguson anthem that he claims isn't about Ferguson. Regardless "they expect respect and nonviolence/I refuse the right to be silent" is a great line.  He was affiliated loosely with Odd Future (his verse on Earl Sweatshirt's Hive got a lot of notice) but he seems to be making a name for himself on his own (which is fine by me because sometimes Odd Future acts try a little too hard to be weird for my taste.)



I did not include anything that I discovered in other year-end lists but really, the only thing I saw listed that was brand new to me is this Childbirth video I Only Fucked You as a Joke. "I can't make good decisions every day!"Childbirth features a member of Tacocat, so it all comes together.

Matt's Top Ten Favorite Songs of 2014

For my Top Ten Favorite Songs of 2014 list, my parameters were simple: songs released in 2014 that I listened to over and over again for a period of days/weeks/months. Weirdly, lots of Aussies made my Top 10 this year. I dunno what's up with that, I guess they're just doing stuff I like down there.

10. Hardcore from Australia, released back in November:

9. Female-fronted hc from Cali, released back in August. I just saw on their facebook page that the lead singer left the band back in September:

8. Suckily, my #8 pick, "CH Drivers Are High" by Chapel Hill's garage rockin' Flesh Wounds, won't embed for some reason. So click that link and listen to it. Fun stuff.

7. I heard this noisy rocker and had to have a hard copy. They sent the pretty blue vinyl 7" fast too - it came all the way from Australia.

6. Same went for this bratty gem, also from Australia, but it has not arrived as promptly as the Mesa Cosa 45; I'm still waiting on my copy of Titty Riot, in fact. The Sufferjets have assured me it's on its way, however.

5. I liked the new King Tuff album all the way through and enjoyed seeing them live. Black Moon Spell was in heavy rotation on my headphones, on the record player, and in my head for weeks.

4.This Drake cover, released back in January by CNQ's favorite Australian no-raver Simo Soo, is better than the original, IMO:

3. The #3 spot is tied with every Buck Biloxi song on Live At Saturn Bar and the Biloxi LP Culture Demanufactuer. As Dynamite Hemorrhage said on his podcast, "Buck Biloxi makes The Ramones sound like wizardy prog." Love it.

2.Dope Body's whole album "Lifer" is really good, but this song is my fave from it.

1.Run The Jewels 2 is my fave album of the year for sure. There's a reason it's on all the best ofs this year - it's un-putdownable.

Honorable mentions go to The Great Dismal Swamis, Postcode, Clara Engel, Anklepants, Adam Holtz, Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, Future Death, Roomrunner, Triathalon, and Grave Mistake Records' Breakout and Asylum. All put out quality tunes this year. Thanks to them, all the artists on the Top Ten list, and all the other awesome bands, singers, and songwriters I've featured on CNQ this year. I don't post it if I don't like it! And also thanks to anybody out there in Internet-land who enjoys my little blog.

Got a Christmas post coming up with some Adam Holtz Christmas tunes and some Christmas-related old 45s you might not have heard before.

Addendum: I totally forgot Protomartyr's "Scum, Rise," which was heavy in my rotation at the beginning of the year.

Scene Report: Parade of Flesh presents Triathalon, Future War, Roomrunner, and Dope Body at the Double Wide Tavern in Dallas

I meant to do a piece on the Run the Jewels show last Thursday but I didn't. Luckily my lovely wife-time companion has a lot to say about Run the Jewels. Stay tuned!

Man, what a good line-up tonight at the Double Wide. Thanks, Parade of Flesh, for doing what you do to get bands like this to Dallas. This was our first visit to the Double Wide Tavern, located in 'the deepest of Ellum," as a guy I work with put it earlier today. Or yesterday. It's late, we got back from the show a little while ago. I am jazzed.

Triathlon came on at 9:20 and the room was full, but it was odd because it was mostly normal looking, older people and not the type you usually see at rock'n'roll shows. Turns out the guys in Triathalon, who hail from Georgia, have family and friends here in the D and they came out tonight Texas style to support their boys. Triathalon has a low-key surf rock thing goin' on and the lead singer, Adam Intrator, has a great falsetto. The wife objectified Adam and felt guilty after realizing his folks were standing behind us. What's wrong with her? Their set was super-tight. The wife thinks they could be the next Maroon-5. I dunno if anybody wants to be that, but she meant it as a compliment for sure. This is my fave song:

Seeing it live, it came on like Paradise Cove by the Lively Ones, which I love:

Next up was Future Death from Austin. The room cleared out and man they played like champs to maybe fifteen or so people. It was one of the loudest things I've heard in a while -- manic and ambitious and great noisy rock'n'roll. Bill the guitarist for Future Death played his instrument like the Flash, his hand was a total blur. Their new album is called Special Victim and they have a song called Speedweed. My wife put the two together, that the band is Law and Order: SVU fans. Bill confirmed this for me. He chatted with us about SVU and Seinfeld, two of my favorite subjects. He was a super cool dude, and a crazy guitar player. I objectified the lead singer, Angie Kang, and felt guilty. What's wrong with me?

Roomrunner was up next and the room I think got a little bigger for them but not by much. They're from Maryland like Dope Body. It was lead singer Denny Bowen's birthday. For his birthday, he and his band put on a top notch show.

The last band was Dope Body, also from Maryland, and man I've been listening to them so much the past week, in anticipation of this show. I was a little bummed I couldn't hear Andrew Laumann's vocals as much as I wanted to; I had the same problem with Future Death's Angie Kang. The other two bands seemed equalized, vox to music. Anyway, Andrew Laumann is worth seeing perform, as he's got his Mick Jagger swagger thing and the band happens to be moving rock music forward, like Jesus Lizard or Protomartyr, IMO.

There were maybe ten or fifteen people to catch this show but the band played like they had to impress one hundred angels. They played a request from a dude, a song they hadn't played in a while. They played their hearts out. It seemed to me that each band did. And there's three words for that:

Rad. Ass. Shit.