May 11 Eartaste Podcast Ready For Download

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Vince Bell - Done That Too

“I talk that talk ‘cause I walk that walk and it’s who I am. I stared into the face of God and he blinked. I bumped my head against the sky, but I’m still standing.” A strong declaration from a strong, independent man who is willing to face the world determined and completely free from caring about the thoughts of others. “If I had ever learned to follow, I’d probably have done that too.” Love those important two letter words, like “if”. And, in case you have any doubt, Vince is willing to admit that he’ll “prob’ly never change.” I love the voice and guitar smiling so deeply on this tune – beautiful job. Shoutout for Labor Of Love Vince Bell

Sound Of The Blue Heart - I Cannot Look Away

“Your eyes fill the room with sorrow.” I love this concerto. Imagine this assignment from your professor - take a string quartet and create a rock song out of it. And to make an “A” in the course you will need to add a woodwind counterpoint that harmonizes. “You are what I’ve been running from. I know this, but I cannot look away.” Sound Of The Blue Heart succeeds not only in passing their master class with an A+, but creating rock that everyone will enjoy listening too. Wonderful compositional skills – that often spells death for musicians, but these folks also have wonderful entertainment skills. A must taste! Shoutout for The Great Escape, which presents a completely different flavor with more familiar rock instruments. An extremely versatile group of musicians. Sound Of The Blue Heart

Second Dan - Love And Innocence

“I used to think that people were my enemy.” I’m starting off this hump day full of electrical storms above us with pure, unexpurgated rock and roll for my hungry ears. The electricity keeps going on and off, so I dug around and found some batteries. Second Dan was worth the search. “All I want is what you’re doing!” What we used to call a pogo dance beat. “Alright!” Second Dan

Truckee Brothers - Planning For The 21st Century

The drums kick in as I smile at this song title while my electricity is going on and off. “Who needs yesterday? Don’t know tomorrow.” I think they’re telling me to live for now. No prob – these electrical storms send off some crazy sounding thundercracks that have the flavor of doomsday. While the metallic flavor of the lightening fills the air, I understand it also fills the ground with nitrogen. Better the ground than my house I guess. “I spray weed killer on my hotel roots.” Very cool harmony, then a device that works well here – both voices singing different melody lines. A bit later the beats change, so my ears are constantly taking in new flavors. Nice composition. Shoutout for Double Happiness.
Truckee Brothers

OTT Band – You, Drugs and Booze

Dance beat keeps this one playing on my turntable. I’m not sure what the song is about. “Well I got a question for you if you have to choose between the two. You. Where are you? You. Drugs and booze.” There’s no answers, not to sure of the question. Guess it’s a good question to ask a potential friend. I’m not real keen on too much of either, so I guess I have an answer. But I also know there’s all kinds of drugs – caffeine being one that has sent me through some extremely awful withdrawls from time to time. And I’m saying this as I drink some coffee spiked with chai tea – double whammy. I’m no stranger to addictions, and as much as I hate the withdrawals – here I am again. Of course my favorite addiction is dance and music and the OTT band supplies both in ample supply. OTT Band

tvfordogs – Drive

Slowing down the evening so we can hear the thunder better. “I hope that this will be the town where you and I will finally settle down. But there’s no welcome in their eyes, something’s churning deep inside, so I guess that we should just keep moving on.” Probably a wise decision. I’ve tended to ignore the churning eyes, and am not always sure I should be doing that. Ahh, another thundercrack – this one shook the house! Anyway, the narrator is driving and says, “You think that you can take a turn? Cause when I close my eyes, they start to burn.” Again, the wise person. Where does all this wisdom come from? And more importantly, will I learn anything from it? Ah! The secret to wisdom comes up – we learn by living our own lives. “There’s a light that isn’t far, but tonight we should just sleep in the car cause we’ve run out of things to pawn and we should really leave by dawn and maybe find a place that looks like home.” Beautiful guitar break. Shoutout for Roller. tvfordogs

Psychotherapy + Melanie

I have just read and signed the online petition:

"Induct Melanie Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"

Check it out - if you know her music, I know you'll consider signing it also.

Elastic No-No Band - Nobody's Listening

“You get up in the morning. Head down to the subway to give those folks a piece of your mind. You get out your guitar and sing your own songs about how the world is so unkind.” A song about a guy whose craft is writing songs. Okay, I hear about 20 of these songs a week, but this one stands out. It doesn’t make me dance, but the voice invites me in to listen to the story called Nobody’s Listening. I’m suckered in, and feel good because of it. “Your rhetoric’s so thick it’s hard to care about who died.” That line throws me, because I’ve never heard rhetoric that thick. Each day I grieve because of what our country is doing, and perhaps subconsciously I have a desire to be served up a rhetoric that thick. When he switches to first person the story thickens – self analysis about how he sings in nightclubs about girls he knew in his teens. Excellent story line that allows the listener to think about life choices. Shoutout for (Everywhere I Look) I See your Face. Elastic No-No Band

Jared Colinger - Awkward Social Graces

“There’s a part of me that I cannot face and it keeps me distant from others.” Talk about self-knowledge. This guys been doing some deep analysis. So, whatdyado with the knowledge? Write a song! Yep, and dance to it while “contemplating my place in life”. The coolest part of this song is that there are no easy, preachy answers. The conclusion is “I never get it right.” Jared Colinger

Alex Arrowsmith - Alien Jump Rope Party & Surgeon

These two songs do not remind me of zappa except in the aspect that to describe the songs will not ever do them justice. Even sharing the lyrics could give away the whole party. Okay, I’ll share a bit – Alien Jump Rope Party begins with a warning of “Siesta and a fiesta on an alien mother ship.” All the things that happen on your regular alien mother ship journey happens here, including the dreaded probe. Anyone who has taken one of these trips will not be surprised, but the rest of us are in for a true joy ride. The best I can say is you can “party hardy” to this, even dance for short bursts, much like your favorite alien. Surgeon. Well, what can I say? Let’s just say the surgeon forgot to wash his hands. The rest you absolutely have to hear for yourself. What? You’re waiting for the inevitable shoutout? Why? Wasn’t that enough? Okay, to be honest, the entire album is a shoutout. But that doesn’t work too well for my autistic friends who read this every day, so since you insist, I’ll shoutout the oddio dance tunes that’ll keep your party smiling – Rap How I Wanna Rap & Who Got The Huh? Alex Arrowsmith

FileFactory.com

Yoko Ono & The Brother Brothers - Yes I'm A Witch

“I’m not gonna dance with you. You might as well face the truth. I’m gonna stick around for quite awhile.” Love it! Rock guitars with a great rock voice fronting the show. “Each time we don’t say what we wanna say, we’re dying.Each time we close our minds to how we feel, we’re dying.” Yoko is always experimenting, and rather than put together a “greatest hits” albums for fans who probably already own all her albums, she put together this intriguing collection by giving current musicians access to her vocal tracks and allowing them to re-create the songs in their style. I’m always trying to mix my recipes and create new flavors to please my tongue, so I know the power of failure. This album is not one of those failures, it ranks it’s 5 stars easy. As with most of Yoko’s work, to listen to the entire album requires intensity, but the two tracks I’ve selected with please any listener’s ears – the title track will have you up and dancing even more than the original version. Shoutout for Yoko Ono & The Porcupine Trees - Death Of Samantha. “When I’m with people, I thank god I can talk hip when I’m crying inside.” Yoko Ono

May 4 Eartaste Podcast Ready For Download

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Avril Lavigne - Everything Back But You

Pounding rhythms to dance my Friday night away. Extra poppy flavors, fun and filled with lollypop sugars to add even more colorful energy. No need for deep thinking “Today is the first day I went through hell, I wish I could delete it from my mind.” I’m guessing this super energy is a fantasy of anger. Okay, perhaps the anger of a junior high schooler – I’d buy that. Avril sure is having a lotta fun being angry! And the musicians are keeping the notes happy! Shoutouts to Girlfriend, I Can Do Better and The Best Damn Thing because I feel like dancing and not thinking about life this first Friday in May. Thanks!Avril Lavigne

The Histrioniks - Anger Cherry

“I got my anger cherry popped.” The voice on this song does carry anger, and a righteous sounding anger at that. The drums, bass and guitars are working to keep the energy high and danceable as the lead guitar reaches back to a pounding surf sound to round out a perfect pop record. Not much in the way of lyric, the voice is simply one of the lead instruments that drive this Friday tune to a powerful pogoing rage. Shoutout for the psychedelic flavored My Name Was Yes. The Histrioniks

FileFactory.com

Willy Mason - Oxygen

“I wanna speak louder than Ritalin for all the children who think that they've got a disease.” Well, keep on speaking – I am one who feels your message is long overdue. I’m involved in a field that actively promotes the drugging of young children (education), and I am one who feels that often what we are dealing with is a child who simply learns differently than other children. These children are not diseased. In many many cases they have extremely high intelligences. So, thanks for speaking out for them, Willy!

However, I find he is not only speaking out for the children of this country. He’s talking directly to me also. He’s bringing me back to my core, to some of those dreams I’ve forgotten in the midst of the chaos our country has created world-wide. “We can be stronger than bombs if you're singing along and you know that you really believe. We can be richer than industry as long as we know that there's things that we don't really need .” A dreamer? I wish not. “Do you remember the forgotten America ? Justice, equality, freedom to every race?” Where have those ideals gone? The truth is that today patriotism is preached much more than justice and equality. Patriotism, of course, means just the opposite – keeping the “other guys” out.

“I know it sounds like a dream but it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night.” All I can say to that is thanks for sharing the sounds of your dream because it gives me hope that the darkness we now live under is not permanent. “I know the future looks dark but it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.”

Shoutout for Gotta Keep Moving “with a troubled mind a-following”. Willy Mason

Koko Taylor - Piece Of Man

“Hey y’all listen to me!” Well, if you put it that way on heavy duty rockin’ hump day, you know you have my ready ear. Especially with a voice as commanding as Koko’s! “I want to tell you a thing or two. You can believe that I know what I’m talking about. Every word I say is true.” With my body twisting this way and twirling that way my hands up in the air then down by my side then pointing in four directions enough I don’t even think about eating dinner with all this dessert entering my bloodstream at one time. The band is blowing their hearts out, and Koko, as always, satisfies every type of hunger a man like me has with a voice that crawls out of the speakers over every inch of my soul. Shoutout for You Ain't Worth A Good Woman. Koko Taylor

Little Barrie - Pretty Pictures

“You want to know the future.” That’s a hump day statement, not a question. Well, I think the future is holding a big bowl of chili smothering a bunch of chopped up French bread that’s 3 days old and starting to get a bit stale. The taste is simply superb. I also am pretty sure the future holds a lot more Little Barrie music in my life. This guy manages to get me up and dancing with a bowl of chili in my hand. Luckily the bread is soaking up the liquid, so it isn’t sloshing all over the floor. The peppers are especially tasty this year. “I’m just search for – for action!” Extra kudos for the cool guitar work. The bass and drums keep up with the vocalist just fine – probably difficult to do in a live situation. Sounds like this would be a great show to witness. Shoutout for Why Don't You Do It? Little Barrie

Dead Rock West - Rocket From The Crypt

“Is there a place we can stay for awhile?” Sure, you’re welcome to stay on my CD player for awhile. Good, bouncy drums and everything else fits the dancing mood just fine. “Our heads are burning fire.” With this energy, it’s no wonder. I had some salsa Tlaquepac poured over my dinner this evening & the spices have me up and smiling with the song. Fun bass playing. This band has a lot of versatility, so they are receiving a double shout-out tonight for Highway One and All I Know. Dead Rock West

Power To The Motown People: Civil Rights

It’s International Workers Day, and this new album is appropriate to talk about. It contains songs from 1967-1985 that explore oppression, war, and the way people treat each other. What’s interesting in retrospect is the power of these songs to observe, not preach. What’s scary is how contemporary many of the observations are. Marvin Gaye singing “war is not the answer,” for example. This collection goes beyond the hits and we hear the Temptation’s take on “War, what is it good for”, and Edwin Starr tackling Cloud Nine. 30 cuts by the very very best Motown artists, all focused on one theme, they are extremely tasty all together in one package. It is, perhaps, instructive that this album is only available by import. The Undisputed Truth’s “Unite The World” sounds contemporary, but is not a message that is heard well in the United States in the way they are stating. Contemporary United States believes that Unity means making everyone in the whole world American. Too bad. This music is well worth hearing by all US citizens. Excellent collection!Power To The Motown People