Grateful Dead 6-23-68 & 6-29-68
Published by Mack ShrimnerI’ve found myself listening to the Grateful Dead a lot recently, my interest having been renewed by seeing them (minus Jerry, of course) recently at shoreline (5-10-2009).
Here’s a stream from a particularly awesome show… Actually two shows: The first (first 7 tracks) is thought to be August 29, 1968, at Matrix in San Francisco and features some amazing Hammond grinding by the one and only Pigpen McKernan. The second show is August 23, 1968, at The Shrine in LA. Both are really good, and feature some pretty hot late sixties rockin’.
Check it out:
By The Means I’ve Chosen With My Free Will
Published by Mack ShrimnerThe world of internet radio is rife with mediocre stations. Admittedly, it’s better than FM radio, but even the best ones play good music only half of the time. The only ones I find myself listening to on a regular basis are the classical/baroque music stations, and that’s probably because I know so little about those genres. But as far as good old fashioned Rock N’ Roll, I had not found a station worth listening to… until just recently.
Understandably, I was blown away when I first heard Beyond the Beat Generation. This streaming radio station plays exclusively rare underground Rock N’ Roll (Garage/Punk/Psych) from 1964-1968, the majority of which is stuff you’ve likely never heard and will probably never hear again unless you are a serious record collector.
You can tune in and hear San Francisco’s own Beau Brummels play their hit Laugh Laugh, followed by Larry and the Blue Notes, out of Texas, playing the chilling classic Night of the Sadist. And if you’re lucky, you may even get to hear the biographic Oscar Wilde by Chilean psych heroes Los Vidrios Quebrados. It doesn’t get any better than this.
I can listen to this station non-stop for hours (and I do all the time). And if you want a change, you can tune in to the Technicolor Web of Sound, which I found linked to from Beyond the Beat Generation. It’s more of a pure psych station, but excellent as well.
http://www.beyondthebeatgeneration.com/
Kings of Rock N’ Roll
Published by Mack ShrimnerIt was the summer of 2003. Somewhere in Western Massachusetts, the night air settled on the grass outside of a pulsating basement window, while a few frenzied screams and squeals escaped into the otherwise quiet night. Inside, a cheap drum kit, a bass pumping through a workingman’s 12, and a reissue Fender Jaguar came together to form what would become the trademark sound of a short-lived local band known as The Centurians.
Many bands have tackled that “retro” sound with varying degree of success. There are plenty who have attempted it and failed. Too many to count, in fact. Then there are bands like The Centurians. Three fresh-outta-college guys playing the music they loved. It was not to last very long, as tends to happen to most good things, but it was great while it lasted.
These here are the remaining tracks of what was once to be The Centurians’ first release, an untitled EP. There are a couple of popular covers (Girl Don’t Tell Me, Money), some obscure covers (Primitive, The World Ain’t Round – It’s Square), and a few originals (Ran Out of Town, What I want You to Be, Kings of Rock N’ Roll). These are the last clean recordings of The Centurians, a rag-tag posse of true rock -n- roll fanatics who made life in western Mass worth living for a few months. I hope you enjoy them.
- The Centurians – What I Want You To Be
- The Centurians – Girl Don’t Tell Me (The Beach Boys)
- The Centurians – Primitive (The Groupies)
- The Centurians – Ran Out of Town
- The Centurians – The World Ain’t Round, It’s Square (The Savages)
- The Centurians – Money (Berry Gordy)
- The Centurians – The Kings of Rock N’ Roll
Update: I’d also like to credit Eric Lindgren at Sounds Interesting Productions for engineering and mixing these recordings.
Classic Dance Moves
Published by Mack ShrimnerThis will never get old
Published by Mack ShrimnerThe Best TV Shows of 2008
Published by Mack ShrimnerSince we are now in 2009, and since I have been watching a lot of TV shows, I thought I’d post a list of the best shows of ‘08. And when I say best shows of ‘08 I mean the best shows that I happened to watch in 2008, not necessarily the ones that came out that year. So, here it is:
- The Wire
- Big Love
- Deadwood (one of my all time favs)
- Arrested Development (always a classic)
- Dallas
- Swingtown
- Late Night with Conan O’Brien
- Ghost in the Shell
- Homicide: Life on the Streets
- Weeds
- Rome
- Californication
- 30 Rock
- The Office
- Sons and Daughters (canceled too early)
- Boston Legal
Hope I’m not forgetting any… Cheers, and happy new year to everyone!
An Introduction
Published by Mack ShrimnerSo I’ve decided to start a “blog”… mainly just an area to throw all of those crazy thoughts and opinions that pop up in my head throughout the course of the day. I doubt there will be any rhyme or reason to what is written (as well there shouldn’t be).
Things you may see here: rants about things I don’t like, cool/funny/strange youtube videos, lists, quotes, anything else that I may think of.
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