retroBlog

Polly and the Billets Doux – album review

retroDan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:54:52 +0000

The full length debut by Polly and the Billets Doux titled “Fiction, Half Truths and Downright Lies” is an absolute joy to listen to. From the energetic guitar intro that kick-starts the album in “Follow My Feet” to the bluegrass rhythms of album closer “Back to Earth”, the band takes the listener on a blissful journey of americana/roots music. At first glance, one would think they’re from middle-America but surprisingly Polly and the Billets Doux hail from Winchester, England. No need to worry though, their retro-americana sound doesn’t feel like a gimmick or a ploy for attention. The love and respect for this style of music really shines through in their enthusiastic performances and lovely vocal harmonies. All the elements of a great album is present here – strong material, solid performances, great vocals and a sense of excitement and fun.

Take the album opener for example:I just go where my feet take me, I just wander where my legs decide, and I know that life won’t break me ’cause I’ll take it all in my stride.
Right after Polly Perry sings that first verse, the band makes an abrupt left turn into a totally different feel and rhythm. It definitely takes the listener by surprise and that type of fearlessness and sense of adventure make the album all the more fun and enjoyable to listen to. The band keeps it varied by mixing in jazz, folk, R&B and country through the course of the album. But even with all the different elements and influences, Polly Perry’s strong voice and Andrew Steen’s signature semi-hollow body guitar sound keep things from sounding too disjointed.

I also have to give “props” to producer/engineer Lewis Childs for creating a “live sounding” record which compliments this style of music and gives the songs a raw immediacy that’s very appealing. It’s definitely a notable contrast in this day and age of over-digitized pro-tooled junk that gets passed off as music nowadays.

Find out more about the band by heading over to PollyandtheBilletsDoux.co.uk

retroGrade: A

album: Fiction, Half Truths and Downright Lies
artist: Polly and the Billets Doux
produced by: Lewis Childs, Paul Isaac
release date: August 10, 2009
label: Bleak Mouse Records

TrackList:
1. Follow My Feet
2. To Be a Fighter
3. Charmed
4. The Cup and the Lip
5. I Would Ask
6. The Rounder
7. Don’t Trouble Trouble
8. Lead Me On
9. The City and the Sailor
10. Back to Earth

personal favorites include: “Follow My Feet”, “To Be Fighter”, “The Cup and the Lip”, “The Rounder” and “The City and the Sailor”
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live dates:
Jul 6 2009 Wickham Festival Gosport
Jul 12 2009 The Cellars (Afternoon Show) Portsmouth
Aug 2 2009 Harbourside Festival Bristol
Aug 5 2009 Firefly Worcester
Aug 6 2009 The Porter Bath
Aug 7 2009 The Westgate Winchester
Aug 8 2009 The Tower Arts Centre Winchester
Aug 22 2009 Plum Jam Festival Worcester
Sep 6 2009 Folk Festival Burnham-on-Sea
Sep 12 2009 The Folk House Bristol
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Polly and the Billets Doux
Polly Perry – vocals
Andrew Steen – guitars, vocals
Dan Everett – bass, vocals
Ben Perry – drums
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for more info on the lives dates in the UK, check out the NoblePR webpage.

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watch Polly and the Billets Doux performing “Follow my Feet” on youtube:

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Yes/Asia 2009 summer tour setlist

retroDan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:22:33 +0000

Well, it appears that Yes’ summer tour (with Asia) kicked off this past weekend without a hitch. Hopefully the tour will be successfully enough for them to book dates beyond the Pennsylvania date on August 2nd. I’m personally hoping the next leg of the tour will make a stop in the southeast region of the U.S. so that I won’t have to commit to a long road trip just to see the show. come on, this middle-aged man can’t handle those long treks out on the road anymore!
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*Warning – spoiler alert* – don’t read any further if you don’t want to know the current Yes/Asia tour setlists…
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Yes/Asia setlists (from the June 27th show in Las Vegas) *spoiler alert*

Asia (approximately 1 hour set)
Wildest Dreams
Only Time will Tell
An Extraordinary Life
Video killed the Radio Star (Buggles)
In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson)
The Smile has left your Eyes
Don’t Cry
Fanfare for the Common Man (Emerson, Lake and Palmer)
Soul Survivor
Heat of the Moment

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Yes (approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes)
Firebird Suite
Siberian Khatru
I’ve Seen All Good People
Tempus Fugit
Astral Traveller
And You and I
Steve Solo/Clap
Owner of a Lonely Heart
Machine Messiah
Roundabout
Heart of the Sunrise
Starship Trooper (encore)
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Asia: John Wetton, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes
Yes: Benoit David, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Oliver Wakeman, Alan White

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purchase Yes music at CDUniverse
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remembering Michael Jackson 1958-2009

retroDan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:34:38 +0000

It’s still shocking to me after spending the whole evening trying to process all this but alas legendary performer Michael Jackson has passed away at the age of 50. Rest in peace, MJ. You will be missed. Like most others on the blogosphere, I thought I’d post a few youtube videos to remember him by.

a Michael Jackson Video Compilation

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Michael Jackson Mega Video Mix by DJ_OXyGeNe_8

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Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him
The biggest showbiz story of the year saw the troubled star take a good slice of the Internet with him, as the ripples caused by the news of his death swept around the globe.

“Between approximately 2:40 p.m. PDT and 3:15 p.m. PDT today, some Google News users experienced difficulty accessing search results for queries related to Michael Jackson,” a Google spokesman told CNET, which also reported that Google News users complained that the service was inaccessible for a time. At its peak, Google Trends rated the Jackson story as “volcanic.”

As sites fell, users raced to other sites: TechCrunch reported that TMZ, which broke the story, had several outages; users then switched to Perez Hilton’s blog, which also struggled to deal with the requests it received.

CNN reported a fivefold rise in traffic and visitors in just over an hour, receiving 20 million page views in the hour the story broke.
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Michael Jackson, a man apart
He was lauded and ridiculed. He broke down barriers and built them around himself. He soared to heights unimaginable with his music, and he made the ignominious front page of gutter tabloids worldwide.
For Michael Jackson, the spotlight was always present, and the rest of the world followed.

With “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” — the latter with Eddie Van Halen’s scorching guitar solo — he was almost single-handedly responsible for getting videos by African-American artists on MTV and helped revitalize the moribund Top 40 format in the early 1980s.

“Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color way before Tiger Woods, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a friend. “Michael did with music what they later did in sports, and in politics and in television. No controversy will erase the historic impact.”
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Purchase Michael Jackson music at CD Universe:

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Journey cancels Berlin show due to health issues

retroDan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:59:55 +0000

This just in – Journey cancelled their June 23rd concert in Berlin, Germany due to a medical emergency. Apparently, drummer Deen Castronovo experienced some health related issues and had to stay overnight at the hospital for observation. No word on what actually happened but hopefully it’s not too serious. Here’s the latest blog post from Neal Schon from Journey’s website:

Just received info that the doctors want to keep Deen over night again. He’s having some other issues…. but we have decided that we are going to sound check with Steve Toomie his drum tec. and put together a show for Hamburg tonight….
I am now told deen is to be back tomorrow…..
This is the last thing I’ve heard.
Neal, Wednesday, June 24, 2009 – 2:14 am

You may remember Castronovo stepping down from touring with Soul Sirkus (with Neal Schon and Jeff Scott Soto) due to health reasons back in 2005. not sure if the health issues are related.

We’ll see what happens with the Hamburg show.

Hopefully Deen will make a full recovery and will be well enough to continue touring with the band!!

Here’s a video from a couple days ago featuring Deen Castronovo singing “Mother, Father” at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (17 June 2009)

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quick update (24Jun09) : according to LC73 (Lori) on her blog on JourneyMusic, Steve Toomie did indeed sub for Deen Castronovo at the Hamburg gig!!
Neal just called me and said they all did a good job and Steve Toomie helped get the job done so major congrats! (They were on live TV to boot; no pressure there!)

Not an easy task as he has never run thru the music before with the band; mostly just sound checking the drums, ect.

My total respect goes out to him.

LC73 – Wednesday, June 24, 2009 – 1:24 pm
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WIN with BluFrog

retroDan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:45:28 +0000

The hard working folks behind the BluFrog Energy Drink are giving away some cool prizes over at their website ItsaBluWorld.com. They’re hoping that the new contest will help spread the word on their tasty beverage which would definitely come in handy during the hot summer months. Featured prizes include a XBox 360 Elite bundled with Rock Band 2 and a trip to ESPN’s Winter X Games in Aspen. The prize that I’m most interested in is the trip to Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago this august. I grew up in Chicago so it would be simply fantastic to be able to go back to Chi-Town and watch bands like Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys and Ben Folds in Grant Park.
You’re probably thinking that there would be some complicated steps associated in enter the contest. But it’s actually pretty simple. In fact, BluFrog provides three different ways to enter. If you’re on Twitter, tweet about the contest and include #bluworld and http://bit.ly/UiiJy in your tweet. If you’re a blogger like me, just do what I’m doing and blog about BluFrog’s contest and which prize you want to win. Just make sure your trackback goes through and if not, simply post a comment with the URL to your blog post. And the third option is by posting a comment directly on their site expounding on the prize you’d pick and why. Each comment, blog post or tweet counts as one registration. And a person can enter up to three times. Just be sure to do all this by July 17th.
Yup, I can see it all now… Me, hanging out in Grant Park, sipping some BluFrog and enjoying some live music by The Killers and Jane’s Addiction!! Wish me luck!

Chickenfoot – album review – Hagar – Satriani – 2009

retroDan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:37:53 +0000

After recently reading some of the leaked excerpts from Sammy Hagar’s unpublished book about his years with Van Halen, I’m personally glad to see Hagar (along with Michael Anthony) getting some good buzz with the new supergroup called Chickenfoot. According to the excerpts from the book, Alex and Eddie Van Halen are extremely petty and paranoid and pretty much gave Hagar and Anthony the shaft at the end of their stint with the legendary rock group. Of course the book is a one-sided account of what went on behind the scenes but whatever the truth may be, it’s just good to see Hagar and Anthony back in the spotlight. The band is made up of some stellar players including guitar-god Joe Satriani and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Chad Smith on drums. Supergroups like these tend to all look good on paper so the real test is the MUSIC and fortunately for us the new record ROCKS. ChickenFoot isn’t about re-inventing the wheel. It’s obvious that the goal was to make an accessible guitar-based rock record in the vein of Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. And thankfully the group delivered the goods. Folks were probably expecting some sort of trainwreck with all the big egos involved here but the group really DOES sound like they gel together nicely. Smith is a fantastic drummer laying down some tasty grooves with Anthony holding down the low end as solidly as ever. Satriani manages to rein things in, going back to basics with crunchy riffs and melodic leads during the solo sections. And Hagar can still do those blood-curdling screams at the age of 61! amazing. The album contains many highlights including “Down the Drain”, “Sexy Little Thing”, “Soap on a Rope” and the power ballad “Learning to Fall”. The refreshing thing is hearing a band playing together live in the studio with minimal overdubs and NO click-track. It’s a bit jarring to hear the tempo naturally ebb and flow in this day & age of tempo mapping and quantizing in pro-tools. but for a rock record, there’s no better way to capture a band in action. Oh and I gotta give kudos to producer Andy Johns and engineer Mike Fraser. The recording sounds fantastic with crisp definition of each instrument and great punch down on the low end. Unfortunately, I have to take points off for some lousy lyrics but with music this good, I’ll overlook it for the most part.

RetroGrade: B+
Chickenfoot
Released: June 2009
Label: Fontana
Produced by Andy Johns
Mixed by Mike Fraser
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TrackList:
1 Avenida Revolucion 5:56
2 Soap on a Rope 5:32
3 Sexy Little Thing 4:14
4 Oh Yeah 4:54
5 Runnin’ Out 3:52
6 Get It Up 4:41
7 Down the Drain 6:17
8 My Kinda Girl 4:34
9 Learning to Fall 5:13
10 Turnin’ Left 5:48
11 Future in the Past 6:38
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ChickenFoot:
Sammy Hagar – vocals
Joe Satriani – guitar
Michael Anthony – bass
Chad Smith – drums
Official Website: ChickenFoot.us

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Check out the official music video of Oh Yeah on youtube:

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and be sure to catch ChickenFoot live this summer:

2009 European Tour
Sat 06/20/09 AUSTRIA Nova Rock Festival
Tue 06/23/09 CORK, IRELAND: Live at the Marquee
Thu 06/25/09 LONDON Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Fri 06/26/09 HOLLAND: Heerhugowaard
Sun 06/28/09 BELGIUM Graspop Metal Meeting Festival
Mon 06/29/09 PARIS: Olympia
Wed 07/01/09 MADRID Palacio De Deportes Comunidad De Madrid
Fri 07/03/09 PISTOIA, ITALY: Blues Festival
Sat 07/04/09 MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND: Stravinski Hall
Sun 07/05/09 UDINE, ITALY: Lignano Sbbiadoro
Tue 07/07/09 HAMBURG: Grosse Freiheit
Wed 07/08/09 COPENHAGEN: Vega
Fri 07/10/09 KILAFORS, SWEDEN: Rockweekend Festival
Sun 07/12/09 WEERT, HOLLAND: Bospop Festival
for more info on the European leg of the tour please check the NoblePR website

2009 U.S. Tour
Sun 08/02/09 Halifax, NS Citadel Hill
Tue 08/04/09 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
Wed 08/05/09 W Homestead, PA Riverplex Amphitheatre At Sandcastle
Fri 08/07/09 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
Sat 08/08/09 Detroit, MI The Fillmore Detroit
Mon 08/10/09 Saint Paul, MN Myth
Tue 08/11/09 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
Thu 08/13/09 Comstock Park, MI Fifth-Third Ballpark
Sat 08/15/09 Cleveland, OH Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
Mon 08/17/09 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
Thu 08/20/09 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Sat 08/22/09 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa / Music Box
Sun 08/23/09 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
Mon 08/24/09 Boston, MA Bank Of America Pavilion
Wed 08/26/09 Portsmouth, VA Ntelos Wireless Pavilion
Thu 08/27/09 Charlotte, NC Uptown Amphitheatre At The Music Factory
Sat 08/29/09 North Myrtle Beach, SC House Of Blues
Sun 08/30/09 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Sat 09/05/09 Stateline, NV Harveys Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena
Sat 09/12/09 Grand Junction, CO Rock Jam Festival Grounds
Mon 09/14/09 Tulsa, OK Brady Theater
Wed 09/16/09 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater
Thu 09/17/09 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheater
Mon 09/21/09 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre At Grand Prairie
Wed 09/23/09 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
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Sir Paul McCartney turns 67 today

retroDan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:11:31 +0000

holy crap. I nearly forgot… legendary rocker Sir Paul McCartney is 67 years old today! Happy Birthday Sir Paul! To celebrate, I thought I’d post a track of his from my vast archives.

Here’s the remixed version of a rare B-side – Good Sign. It was a collaboration with Hamish Stuart and recorded in the fall of 1988.

That’s a good, that’s a good sign…

I love the way that my heartbeat increases
When you walk in a room
The chemicals that my body releases
Dispel any feelings of gloom

That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign, let us keep improvin’
That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign don’t you know?

I love electrical shocks and surprises
Keep attacking my heart
I know the way my temp’rature’s rises
Had to be there from the start

That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign, let us keep improvin’
That’s a good sign, see the meter’s movin’
That’s a good sign, don’t you know?
-Good Sign written by Paul McCartney and Hamish Stuart

Download Good Sign (7:34, 128kbps, 6.94MB) [for a limited time via mediafire]

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..and the man is still going strong. here are some upcoming dates just in case you wanna catch him live-

Sat 07/11/09 Halifax, NS Halifax Commons
Fri 07/17/09 New York, NY Citi Field
Sat 07/18/09 New York, NY Citi Field
Tue 07/21/09 New York, NY Citi Field
Sat 08/01/09 Landover, MD FedExField

searching for that perfect webhost

retroDan — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:29:07 +0000

There’s nothing groundbreaking or novel about running a blog or a website these days. Everyone and their grandmother seems to have their own domain up and running on the net. And it’s pretty much a no-brainer. With your own hosted site, you have the freedom to post what you want, when you want and the way it’s presented. It can be as simple as a static homepage or as dynamic as a busy current-events discussion forum. With your own website, the sky’s the limit. But the big question is: where should you go to get hosted? There are a ton of choices out there and folks can get overwhelmed by all the great offers being advertised by providers right now. First and foremost, take the time upfront to do your research. Having a reliable and responsive web host is the “key” if you ask the average webmaster. And you can start by heading over to Web Hosting Geeks to read up on reviews and do head-to-head comparisons between webhosting plans. The site is a great resource to help you find the right host for your needs. Besides reviews and detailed info on each provider, the site also gives out “Best of” awards to providers in a variety of categories including Best in forum hosting and Best in dedicated server hosting. The “best of” distinction is a quick and easy way to find the top providers in the type of hosting your interested in. Also, be sure to check out their Hosting 101 section of their blog for some informative articles on what to look for in a webhost.

the other side of Asia: John Payne

retroDan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:40:34 +0000

For those that can’t make it to see 80’s supergroup Asia open for Yes on tour this summer, there’s still an alternative. Many fans of the original Asia lineup may not be aware that there’s another version of Asia touring the U.S. this summer: Asia Featuring John Payne. Yes, I know some may feel that this configuration of the band is the inferior of the two but whatever the case may be, Payne was responsible for a number of decent tunes in the Asia back catalog. As a matter of fact, Payne (along with original member Geoff Downes) released eight studio albums as “Asia” between 1992 and 2004. I personally thought that Asia “mark II” hit their stride when they released Silent Nation in 2004 featuring the talents of Guthrie Guvan on guitar and Chris Slade on drums.

But things went south for Payne’s band when Downes decided to reunite with John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer to tour as “Original Asia” in 2006. I’m not really clear on who owns the rights to the name “Asia” but there seems to be an agreement that Payne can still use the name “Asia” as long as it’s followed by “featuring John Payne”. Personally, I’d rather see Payne break free of the Asia name altogether and just focus on his other band GPS (which includes Guvan and Jay Schellen) but it seems that concert promoters are more willing to put up the money for a band called “Asia” than the lesser known “GPS” even though Payne, Guvan and Schellen play in both bands.

So anyway, for those that aren’t familiar with John Payne’s work with Asia, I thought I’d post one of my favorites by Payne titled “Long Way From Home”.
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There’s a black Siberian
Look a white guy in the sun
Miles away from where the quest begun
From the ice to the sand
Nations moved across the land
Ever since time designed the man

Someday to return to the place of my birth

I’m a long way from home but I know where I belong
It’s a long way I know
But the heart will still carry me home

Firewater in the blood took away the livelihood
Giving thanks every single year
Who the hell owns this land?
Is it God or is it man?
With the blood we draw the line again

I’m called to return to the place of my birth

I’m a long way from home but I know where I belong
It’s a long way I know
But the heart will still carry me home…

-”Long Way From Home” written by John Payne and Geoff Downes
from the 2004 album Silent Nation
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download Long Way from Home for a limited time via mediafire
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Catch Asia Featuring John Payne live this summer –

Jun 13 2009 Isle Casino (Isle of Capri) Biloxi, Mississippi
Jul 5 2009 American Music Festival Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Jul 12 2009 Tupelo Music Hall Londonderry, New Hampshire
Jul 14 2009 Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, Connecticut
Jul 16 2009 The Boogie Festival Springville, Indiana
Jul 18 2009 Rock N Resort Music Festival North Lawrence, Ohio
Aug 7 2009 Crestwood Fest Crestwood, Illinois
Aug 9 2009 Valley Cultural Arts Woodland Hills, California
Aug 12 2009 Trocaderos Event Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Aug 13 2009 Waterfest Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Aug 15 2009 Wisconsin State Fair West Allis, Wisconsin
Sep 12 2009 Sky City Casino Acoma, New Mexico

Asia Featuring John Payne includes:
John Payne – Bass, Vocals
Guthrie Guvan – guitar
Jay Schellen – Drums
Erik Norlander – Keyboards

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Asia featuring John Payne – Long Way From Home (soundcheck, Scranton PA, 08Jun08)

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**UPDATE: 22Jun09** – according to a recent press release from the band, Mitch Perry will be filling in for Guthrie Guvan on guitar for the 2009 summer tour. It’s a bit of a downer for me personally since Guvan is SO amazing to watch on guitar!