Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols – Album Review

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A Classic Cover For A Classic Record

A Classic Cover For A Classic Record

I mentioned in the general introduction that I published yesterday that no band encapsulated the punk movement like The Sex Pistols. As an obvious result, no album stands as a better snapshot of the era than their one and only “true” release, “Never Mind The Bollocks – Here’s The Sex Pistols”. It was released at the height of the movement, in 1977. The singles up to that point were included along with songs like “No Feelings” that had acted as b-sides. Continue reading →

Greatest Country Hits (John Denver) – Compilation Album

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The Front Cover Of The CD

The Front Cover Of The CD

John Denver (1943 – 1997) was one of the best loved country musicians ever, and deservedly so. He was a compassionate man that was incredibly gifted as a performer, and this compilation (released in 1998) highlights that fact. The title is not 100 % accurate in the sense that not all of the compositions were hits – they were all released as singles, and some flopped like “The Cowboy & The Lady”, arguably the weakest thing on offer here. But regardless of the current performance on the charts, every song is imbued with the characteristics that made John Denver legendary – a great singing voice, an eminent set of melodies and a rush of emotions when one listens to them. Continue reading →

The Sex Pistols – General Introduction

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I know no single band that encapsulated so much what a musical movement was all about than The Sex Pistols, England’s most remarkable punk rock outfit. Every characteristic feature was palpable in them: the musical abrasiveness, the rampant political stance, the self-destructiveness, and the instrumental lack of prowess. I thought the last part of the previous statement over and over. I did not want to use an expression like “musical ineptitude”, but the fact remains that the true identity of those who played on their one and only album (“Never Mind The Bollocks – Here’s The Sex Pistols”, released in 1977) remains unknown. Continue reading →

My Five Favorite Keith Moon Drum Breaks

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Keith Playing Live In The Mid-70s

Keith Playing Live In The Mid-70s

Ha. That is quite a hard thing to set down, for the mere reason that Moon played a constant drum break from start to finish. This list is made up of personal favorites- I am not saying they are the best, they are just the ones I like best.

Doctor Jimmy

One stormy afternoon I was listening to “Quadrophenia” (the duty of every Who fan when it is stormy outside, you know). While listening to “Doctor Jimmy” the almightiest thunder you could imagine roared and shattered the air, right before the break that you can hear at 05:20. I had always loved it, and from that point onwards it became the one I was the most emotionally attached to from their entire discography. Continue reading →

A New Category Is Added To MusicKO

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Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to the feisty new addition to MusicKO: the “favorites” section. You can guess what it’s all about. Here I am going to give a list of personal likes and dislikes for all to comment and expand upon. I have made a point of including a controversial enough one to begin with: “My Five Favorite Keith Moon Drums Breaks”. Continue reading →

The Who Sell Out – Album Review

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The Front Cover. It Was Actually Banned In Parts Of The States On Grounds Of Vulgarity.

The Front Cover. It Was Actually Banned In Parts Of The States On Grounds Of Vulgarity.

As you probably know, The Who’s discography was extensively remastered and updated in the mid 90s, when the band celebrated its 30th birthday. A boxed set was released and every single album minus “My Generation” (owing to a legal dispute) was fortified with bonus tracks and big booklets including new liner notes and plenty of photographs. And none of these re-releases stood out so distinctly as this one.

You see – the original album (first issued in 1967) was structured as a pirate radio broadcast devoted solely to you-know-who, and the songs were interspersed with jingles and fake ads. But only on the first side. The ads disappeared from the second side, maybe because the songs themselves were more serious and they did not want to do the equivalent of painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Or – fans always wondered – because they had run out of ads and ideas. Continue reading →

Band Central – Resources For Musicians

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BC_Logo

Name: Band Central

URL: http://www.bandcentral.com

Having a band member as the sole manager of the band always causes trouble. And the same applies if a relative or a friend takes the reins. Something like that happened to The Clash. And there are also bands like 10,000 Maniacs in which an original member was actually keen on managing but ended up playing something (that is the case of keyboardist Dennis Drew). It is better to concentrate on making music and letting the minutia to someone who is not attached to the band or its members.

Now, suppose there was a solution that dispensed completely with the minutia of day to day management and which presented everything in a setting which is completely fresh and dynamic. That is exactly what Band Central does. It is a sort of HUB where you can keep track of the activity of the band, see a calendar of forthcoming activities and interact with your fans as well as among buddies. Continue reading →

A New Category Is Added To MusicKO

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I am adding a new category today. It is named “Resources For Musicians”, and it will be conformed by small reviews and commentary of sites found on the web that I am sure will appeal to every person who is even vaguely interested in music.

The Internet is just phenomenal. You can not only find whatever you might need music-wise but nowadays most services fall under the “SaaS” umbrella term. That means “Software as a Service”, and the expression refers to applications and tool that are hosted online. That is, you don’t have to download anything in order to put them into action. And since it is all on the Net, you can access them from anyplace a web-enabled computer (or device) is available. Continue reading →

The Clash (US Version) – Album Review

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Rocking The Town To The Clash City Rockers

Rocking The Town To The Clash City Rockers

In the same way that the first albums released by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were revamped and even drastically modified for US release, The Clash’s eponymous album underwent the cut-and-paste treatment when it was released in the States in the year 1979.

Every person who has listened to the original album (released in 1977, obviously) arrives at the same conclusion: the original has a more organic flow, whereas the American edition features better individual songs. That is nothing surprising – the US edition ended up resembling a sort of mini compilation of their best songs up to that point. Songs that were added to the American release (which boasted 15 songs, as opposed to the 14 the British release included) featured the hits “Clash City Rockers”, “Complete Control”, “White Man In Hammersmith Palais” and “I Fought The Law”, a song which stuck out like a sore thumb because the production values were so much higher. That is something to take into account – the original LP was recorded in a dilapidated warehouse, and it sounded like that. You put something like “I Fought The Law” in the middle, and it feels like placing a scene from “I Am Legend” into “The Omega Man”. Continue reading →

MusicKO Launches!

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Today, Tuesday the 4th of August (2009) MusicKO officially launches.

Thank you so much to all the people who are already regular readers and who are posting comments.

Expect a lot of surprises and new features over the coming days.

Remember, this is our space to discuss music, what it means to us and how it motivates us to do better!

Comment and participate! And share the word!

See you around,

Emilio