Tim Niland is a lifelong jazz and blues fan, who began blogging about music five years ago. In real life, he is a public librarian living in New Jersey.

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Showing entries for Category: rockandroll

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive (Vagrant, 2008)

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July 15, 12:54 PM

by Tim Niland, Blues and Jazz Examiner

The Hold Steady

Anthemic sounding rock 'n' roll with the "big" sound like Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, et. al. The character studies are quite interesting, almost beat like in their studies of the underside of American youth. Musicians running from the law, college girls consorting with shady characters, and wondering why the boys are so into music.

"Constructive Summer" wins points right away by shouting out to "Saint Joe Strummer" with a pounding rock 'n' roll beat. "Sequestered in Memphis" is a blasting rock 'n' roller about a musician on the run. As someone who went to college in the middle of nowhere, "One for the Cutters" brought back memories with its lyrics about college girls shunning their peers to party with the locals in a honky-tonk bar, and out in the back woods. The title track leaves the usual punk nihilism in the dust for a more provocative and proactive message.

This is an interesting marriage of the energy of punk rock like The Clash and The Ramones, with the orchestral, full bodied sound of early Springsteen in Phil Spector produced pop. Combining well produced music with thoughtful and imaginative lyrics make this an interesting disc to check out for people who feel that rock 'n' roll has gone stale in the days of Myspace and Clearchannel.

Topics: rockandroll , theholdsteady

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Early Zappa

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June 23, 10:11 PM

They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. In order to get re-acquainted with my vinyl record collection, I have decided to listen to all of my records in reverse order. Rounding out the Z's of course was a healthy dose of... Read More
Topics: rockandroll , frankzappa

Love - Forever Changes Collector's Edition (Elektra, 1967, 2008)

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May 30, 12:48 PM

Arthur Lee's band Love was one of the most artistic and creative bands of the early rock 'n' roll era. On this album they employed string arrangements and other additions to create a masterpiece of songcraft, raising the idea of pop music to high art.... Read More
Topics: rockandroll , Love

Mudcrutch - Self Titled (Reprise, 2008)

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May 28, 11:45 AM

Mudcrutch originally began as a rock band from Gainesville, Florida before moving to southern California in the mid-1970's to take their shot at stardom. That never panned out, and then the group broke up, with bassist and singer Tom Petty picking... Read More
Topics: rockandroll , Mudcrutch

Rock 'n' Roll Roundup

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May 14, 10:59 AM

The Fleshtones – Take a Good Look (Yep Roc, 2008)The deans of New York City garage rock, The Fleshtones, Keith Streng guitar, and vocals, Peter Zaremba, harmonica and vocals, Bill Milhizer on drums, and Ken Fox on bass, play fresh, fun and completely... Read More
Topics: rockandroll , nickcave , fleshtones

Elvis Costello - Momofuku (Lost Highway, 2008)

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May 9, 3:47 PM

In his notes to this new record, Costello writes "Some rock and roll music is better if you don't think too hard on it." Seriously fed up with the business of music, he had threatened to either quit recording, playing live or both. Thankfully... Read More
Topics: elviscostello , rockandroll