Ty Segall & Shows # 671, 672, 673

Following Ty Segall’s 2016 noisy concept album Emotional Mugger, Ty Segall released a self-titled full-length album in 2017. This album, is not as noisy as its predecessor, however, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t noisy moments found on this album, there are plenty. This album is also the second full-length album released by Ty Segall that is also a self-titled release. His first was in 2008, at the beginning of his recording and musical garage adventures as a solo artist, with Segall playing the majority of the instrumentation. 2017’s Ty Segall release seems like a new beginning of sorts for Segall. This is the first full-length album where it was recorded with a live band in a room since 2012’s Slaughterhouse, which was recorded with the Ty Segall Band. For the most part all of Segall’s solo albums did not have a steady standard lineup. His live band has switched around several times, but usually featured Mikal Cronin in the lineup. The current band featured on this record consists of Mikal Cronin (bass), Charles Moothart (drums), Emmett Kelly (guitar), Ben Boye (piano), along with Ty Segall (on guitar/vocals). This also seems to be the current live band lineup for Segall, which he is dubbing The Freedom Band.

Ty Segall begins with the song “Break A Guitar”. This fuzz-driven, noisy garage number with a dash of Marc Bolan influence, tells the story of a character who was given a guitar amongst all the other obstacles and represents a shattering of expectations. In the context of this album, Ty Segall shatters the expectations of previous Segall releases. It combines a mixture of all of his styles, noisy, hard rock, glam, garage, punk, psychedelic, acoustic-pop and picks up the pieces to create a warm sounding mix of Segall’s musical abilities and styles. “Freedom” is a striped down acoustic dominated track with fuzzy choruses that builds as the song progresses. With lyrics such as “Taking my freedom/Now I can feel it/I’m getting closer to breathing/I can repeat it over and over/In my head”, this song showcases a determination to a finding of a certain kind of freedom and being comfortable within it. It also serves as a prelude to the album’s third track “Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)”. Clocking in at almost 10 and a half minutes, this song encompasses a collection of Ty Segall’s musical styles into one lengthy song, that doesn’t seem so long. It is definitely a strong point and centrepoint on this album, “Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)” tells the story of jealously, fame, shame and the conquering over those things as it switches styles drawing comparisons to Black Sabbath, The Doors, Cream and a variety of others. Overall, it may seem to have these styles to some, but it is a unique Ty Segall original that has its own things to say musically and lyrically.

“Talkin’” takes the listener into a more folky, twangy, country dynamic. Drawing comparisons to Harry Nilsson with a dose of Neil Young & Crazy Horse, this track is a catchy example of the range of the songwriting abilities of Ty Segall. “The Only One” is a heavier dirge of a song with sludgy guitars, along with “Thank You Mr. K” which is a faster paced song drawing on more punk, Ramones-like influences. Around the 1:20 mark of this song the music stops as something heavy is heard sliding, which is then followed by a series of smashing noises. It appears that these sounds originate from a video that was posted online in November 2016 as an announcement about this album prior to its release. Titled “A Flush Down The Tylet”, the video features Ty Segall waiting with a sledgehammer as recordist/producer Steve Albini pushes a toilet off a ledge. “Orange Color Queen” takes down the pace and tempo next. Written about Ty’s girlfriend who also has orange coloured hair, this song is reminiscent of songs from 2013’s Sleeper, but overall has psych pop elements to it. Segall has stated in interviews for this release that he “rarely write songs like this, because it is so easy to sound disingenuous, but I think this one is pretty good”. The song is more than just a love song, it provides something different from what Segall has been doing lyrically and is a new avenue in which he has ventured down.

“Papers” is a piano and acoustic dominated track. The piano parts on this track played by Ben Boye really sets it apart from other songs on this album. While lyrically it may seem to be a simple statement, the piano parts it is coupled with, provides a complex look at keeping things together. The track as many do on the album contain a Beatles influence, among other influences such as Marc Bolan, Syd Barrett, The Stooges and Dinosaur Jr. “Take Care (To Comb Your Hair)” is a playful song that is one part acoustic, two parts garage rock. The song has a simple message, make the most of what you have and appreciate them now before they “disappear” as it is stated in the chorus of this song.

This album was recorded/engineered by Steve Albini. While coming off with a warm 70s sound and feel, Ty Segall lends itself to a different area of production. Ty has for the most part produced and recorded all of his own material. Despite being produced (or recorded by) Albini, this does not get in the way of the album. It has its own feel. This album isn’t a concept album as was the noisy horror punk of Emotional Mugger and it’s not as glossy sounding as 2014’s Manipulator, but despite what his previous albums have to say, this one has its own thing to say. There is no overarching concept here and the last twelve seconds of this album provide us with a glimpse of an answer to the points I’m bringing up here. The eleventh track on Ty Segall is a twelve second song titled “Untitled”. It is clearly a false start of one of the other songs found on this album, followed by laughter. This ending may seem odd to some, but it also provides a simple sonic example, that Ty Segall may be trying new things and has released multiple albums throughout his career, but, he’s still Ty Segall. He hasn’t forgotten his beginnings and we don’t know where he’ll go next musically.



Playlist for Show 673 (Originally Aired On June 24th, 2017):

1. Pixies - Gouge Away
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - There She Goes, My Beautiful World
3. Teenanger - Pay It Forward
4. Chad VanGaalen - Old Heads
5. Big Thief - Capacity
6. Algiers - The Underside of Power
7. The Saints - (I'm) Stranded
8. Betrayers - The Devil Doesn't Want You
9. Rolling Blackouts C.F. - French Press
10. Alvvays - Adult Diversion
11. (Sandy) Alex G - Proud Rocket
12. Chuck Berry - Lady B. Goode
13. Juliana Hatfield - Touch You Again
14. Damaged Bug - Bog Dash
15. Priests - Nicki Nothing
16. Hooded Fang - Paramaribo Prince
17. Kim Gray - P.I.G.
18. The Clean - Big Soft Punch
19. The Bats - Antlers
20. Needles/Pins - Sleep
21. Walrus - In Timely Fashion
22. Dion Lunadon - Hanging by a Thread
23. Oblivians - Mad Lover
24. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Altered Beast III
25. Teenager - It Works With My Body
26. Paul Jacobs - How Did You Find Out

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for June 24.

Playlist for Show 672 June 17 2017 (Repeat of Episode 613: Kid Congo Powers, Allen Vega and Leonard Cohen)

1. Mission Of Burma - Tremelo
2. Sonic Youth - Wolf
3. Vallens - Karen
4. Hot Hot Heat - Sad Sad Situation
5. Heaven For Real - Kill Your Memory
6. Suicide - Ghost Rider
7. Suicide - Mr. Ray
8. Allen Vega - Kung Foo Cowboy
10. Suicide - Jukebox Baby 96
11. Allen Vega - Ghost Rider
12. Nickel Eye - Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye
13. Beck - Suzanne
14. Nick Cave - I’m Your Man
15. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Avalanche
16. Leonard Cohen - Jazz Police
17. Leonard Cohen - Bird On A Wire
18. Weird Lines - There Are Never Too Many Matches
19. The Replacements - 20th Century Boy
20. Luau Or Die - Mojave Chaser
21. Atomic 7 - That Leftover Savior Faire
22. The Black Lips - Leroy Faster
23. The Cramps - Don't Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk
24. The Gun Club - Eternity Is Here
25. Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - Chicano Studies
26. Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - La Arana

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for June 17.

Playlist for Show 671 (Originally Aired On June 10 2017):

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Nature Boy
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Midnight Man
3. Daniel Romano - Roya
4. Nap Eyes - Don't Be Right
5. The Jam - Batman Theme
6. Tape Wolves - Mysterio
7. The Flamethrowers- Suzette
8. No Museums - Surfers Leave
9. Kevin Morby - Tin Can
10. Walrus - Tell Me
11. Planet Creature - Get Along
12. Courtneys - 25
13. 13 Engines - Clean (Brave New Waves Session)
14. The Pursuit of Happiness I'm An Adult Now (Brave New Waves Session)
15. Ty Segall - Warm hands (Freedom Returned)
16. Ty Segall - Pan
17. Iggy Pop - Fortune Teller (79 Rehearsal)
18. Johnny Thunders - Alone In A Crowd
19. Cartoon Lizard - Punk Not Raw
20. Father John Misty - Total Entertainment Forever
21. Flin Flon - Swift Current
22. Hooded Fang - Sister and Suns
23. Thurston Moore - Cusp
24. Black Lips - Rebel Intuition

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for June 10.

Chris Cornell (1964-2017) & Shows # 669 & 670

Following a concert with Soundgarden in Detroit, it was announced on May 18th, 2017, that Chris Cornell, musician, songwriter, solo artist and member of Soundgarden had passed away. He took his own life and the news of this sent a shock through the music world. The music that Cornell created with Soundgarden was very different and very unique. It set them apart from the other Seattle “Grunge” bands of the 90s. Soundgarden were a heavy rock band, pulling in influences from bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, but also with other influences such as The Beatles, touches of punk and several other elements. Lyrically, Cornell often draped the heavy riffs created by the band that surrounded him with darker imagery. The lyrics, while dark were presented in an intelligent way that at times seemed to deal with personal struggles such as depression, but also other issues that surrounded the world around them. Often at times lyrics were used in conjunction with the music to poke fun at certain issues at times in a humorous, but intelligent way. And while all of these things helped to make up the music that was Soundgarden, they sounded like nothing else.

Soundgarden emerged from the underground into the mainstream in the 90s, along with several other bands from Seattle. Throughout this time and through the rise of Grunge music, as it was called, in the mainstream, Soundgarden had something different to say than the usual overproduced mainstream band did. The 90s were a different time, a lot changed for many reasons and the heaviness and lyrical prowess of the band’s music struck a chord with many people. Cornell originally started playing drums and singing in a band cover band called The Shemps, who played around Seattle in the early 80s. The band also featured Hiro Yamamoto, who would be a bassist on early releases and in the early stages of Soundgarden. Guitarist Kim Thayil joined the group when Yamamoto left The Shemps. When this band broke up, Cornell and Yomamto started jamming together, eventually adding Thayil in the process. In 1984, Soundgarden was formed. Cornell switched to vocals and another drummer joined the group, Scott Sundquist so that he could focus on vocals. Through Sub Pop Records, Soundgarden released two EPs Screaming Life in 1987 and Fopp in 1988. The band lineup would change until 1991, when the lineup featured Matt Cameron on drums (who joined as their drummer in 1986) and Ben Shepherd on bass. The first release with this band lineup was 1991’s Badmotorfinger, it was their third album overall. Also, now signed to A&M Records, the band’s popularity took off and two more albums would follow, 1994’s Superunknown and the 1996 release, Down On The Upside.

Cornell had also released many albums as a solo artist, with other artists such as Temple of The Dog and Audioslave. Recently, Cornell released the single “The Promise”, which was recorded for the soundtrack of the same name. Soundgarden, who originally split in 1997, shortly after the release of their album Down On The Upside, reformed in 2010. An album followed entitled King Animal in 2012. Several reissues of the early band’s albums had followed and the band had been rumoured to be working a new album prior to Cornell’s death. One of the lyrics from a Soundgarden song, “Outshined” inspired the movie Feeling Minnesota. Even Johnny Cash covered “Rusty Cage” in 1996. It’s hard to forget the band’s music videos for songs such as “Black Hole Sun”, “Rusty Cage”, “Blow Up The Outside World” or songs such as Ty Cobb”, “Kickstand”, and “My Wave” to name a few. The imagery was strong in all of these things, whether it was the video or the songs themselves. Fans, friends, actors and many others have since come out to show tribute for Cornell following his death. The music that Cornell created, whether you were a fan or not, you can agree was different and something unique. There was no other band that sounded like Soundgarden. The lyrics in combination with the music were at times seen as odd or weird, but really it was just something different that didn’t fit one particular category. This affected many people. Many people identified with what Cornell had to say and even a long time from now, still will.


Playlist for Show # 670 (Originally Aired June 3rd 2017):

1. Kestrels - Thorn
2. Hooded Fang – Queen of Agusan
3. Dusty Mush - Hot Tomato
4. Girl Pool – Corner Store
5. New Pornographers – High Ticket Attractions
6. Robyn Hitchcock – Virginia Wolfe
7. Soundgarden - Kickstand
8. Soundgarden - Blow Up The Outside
9. Chris Cornell – Spoon Man (Demo)
10. Chris Cornell – Seasons
11. Soundgarden - Face Pollution
12. (Sandy) Alex G – Witch
13. Mount Eerie – Death is Real
14. Mountain Goats – Rain in Soho
15. Craig Finn – Jester & June
16. Canailles – Backflips
17. Neil Young - Looking For A Love
18. Dead Ghosts - All In A Row
19. Los Straitjackets - Heart of the City
20. The Velveteins - Midnight Surf
21. Nap Eyes - Roll It
22. Gang War - These Boots Were Made For Walking (Live)
23. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Jangling Jack
24. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Jesus Alone

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for June 3.

Playlist for Show # 669 (Repeat of Show # 606: Them, Art Bergmann & The Mark Inside):

1. Them - Baby Please Don’t Go (Take 4)
2. Them - Turn On Your Love Light (Alternate Version)
3. Them - Richard Cory
4. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Frying Pan
5. The Standells - Rari
6. The Howlies - She’s In Control
7. The Velveteins - Beach Reprise
8. The North Carolina Music Love Army - Stick To The Plan
9. Papa Ghostface - Samhain
10. Border Patrol - This World
11. Jose Contreras - Psychic Radio
12. Art Bergmann - A Town Called Mean
13. Art Bergmann - In Betweens
14. Daniel Romano - I Had To Hide Your Poem In A Song
15. White Fang - Chunks
16. Monomyth - Transmission
17. The Ronald Reagan Story - Ronnie (I Voted For You)
18. The Minstrels Of Truth - I Want Your Business
19. Generation X - Kiss Me Deadly
20. The Police - No Time This Time
21. Gang Of Four - Call Me Up
22. Dee Dee Ramone & The Chinese Dragons - What About Me?
23. The Vores - Stress
24. The Bureaucrats - Grown Up Age
25. Idols - You
26. Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World
27. Old Code - Crooked Smile
28. The Mark Inside - Where You Are
29. The Mark Inside - Shark Attack (I Can See Them Circling)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for May 27.