I’m starting to understand why Axl Rose may have included that Charles Manson song on the Spaghetti Incident? release. They’re both fucking crazy. Manson directed his destruction outward, Rose’s destruction is all directed inward.

Have some fucking fun man. Fuck. Go attend Saturday’s Rock N Roll Hall of Fame induction. Yeah, you have to visit Cleveland, but still….

I haven’t been following all the ins and outs and travails of Guns ‘n’ Roses past or present in recent years. Guilty. But, fuck Axl, you had some accomplishments and GnR once ruled the world – acknowledged with talent AND respect. Not you by yourself but with a tight unit of talented people – especially in the early years – who loved you and yes, you created beautiful music together.

Don’t cry about not wanting to get on stage with people who may have said some nasty wasty things about your behavior – or the ultimately disappointing Chinese Democracy. And don’t refuse to be inducted because you’ve somehow got it stuck in your mind that you’re achieving anything by doing so. If you don’t like the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, that’s different, because it’s pretty fucking useless and the standard bearer for oxymoron. But you’re not saying that.

Do two things for self-respect. Lose some fucking weight, because you might be losing your mental edge but you don’t have to lose everything. And two, show up to the fucking ceremony you big baby. Whose music I love. I couldn’t give a shit if anyone’s inducted to the fucking place – whatever. But if you do something, and you may respect this, do it for a good fucking reason otherwise you’re just wasting everyone’s time. Like the 10 minutes it’s taken to write this for a start.

Axl Rose wrote the following letter to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame saying, “na-ah” and “I donwanna.”

To: The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Guns N’ Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern,

When the nominations for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame were first announced I had mixed emotions but, in an effort to be positive, wanting to make the most of things for the fans and with their enthusiasm, I was honored, excited and hoped that somehow this would be a good thing. Of course I realized as things stood, if Guns N’ Roses were to be inducted it’d be somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation.

Since then we’ve listened to fans, talked with members of the board of the Hall Of Fame, communicated with and read various public comments and jabs from former members of Guns N’ Roses, had discussions with the president of the Hall Of Fame, read various press (some legit, some contrived) and read other artists’ comments weighing in publicly on Guns and the Hall with their thoughts.

Under the circumstances I feel we’ve been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out. Taking into consideration the history of Guns N’ Roses, those who plan to attend along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in “our” induction (that for the record are decisions I don’t agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make), and how (albeit no easy task) those involved with the Hall have handled things… no offense meant to anyone but the Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected.

For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from Guns their accomplishments or recognition for such. Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It’s their show not mine.

That said, I won’t be attending The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2012 Ceremony and I respectfully decline my induction as a member of Guns N’ Roses to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of “Guns N’ Roses”.

This decision is personal. This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp’s perspective. Neither is meant to offend, attack or condemn. Though unfortunately I’m sure there will be those who take offense (God knows how long I’ll have to contend with the fallout), I certainly don’t intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision. Since the announcement of the nomination we’ve actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” scenario all the way around.

In regard to a reunion of any kind of either the Appetite or Illusion lineups, I’ve publicly made myself more than clear. Nothing’s changed.

The only reason, at this point, under the circumstances, in my opinion whether under the guise of “for the fans” or whatever justification of the moment, for anyone to continue to ask, suggest or demand a reunion are misguided attempts to distract from our efforts with our current lineup of myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and DJ Ashba.

Izzy came out with us a few times back in ’06 and I invited him to join us at our LA Forum show last year. Steven was at our show at the Hard Rock, later in ’06 in Las Vegas, where I invited him to our after-party and was rewarded with his subsequent interviews filled with reunion lies. Lesson learned. Duff joined us in 2010 and again in ’11 along with his band, Loaded, opening in Seattle and Vancouver. For me, with the exception of Izzy or Duff joining us on stage if they were so inclined somewhere in the future for a song or two, that’s enough.

There’s a seemingly endless amount of revisionism and fantasies out there for the sake of self-promotion and business opportunities masking the actual realities. Until every single one of those generating from or originating with the earlier lineups has been brought out in the light, there isn’t room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion.

Maybe if it were you it’d be different. Maybe you’d do it for this reason or that. Peace, whatever. I love our band now. We’re there for each other when the going get’s rough. We love our fans and work to give them every ounce of energy and heart we can.

So let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn’t owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another’s, or in this case several others’, expense.

But hey if ya gotta then maybe we can get the “no show, grandstanding, publicity stunt, disrespectful, he doesn’t care about the fans” crap out of the way as quickly as we can and let’s move on. No one’s taking the ball and going home. Don’t get it twisted. For more than a decade and a half we’ve endured the double standards, the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types. Not to imply anything in this particular circumstance, but from my perspective in regard to both the Hall and a reunion, the ball’s never been in our court.

In closing, regardless of this decision and as hard to believe or as ironic as it may seem, I’d like to sincerely thank the board for their nomination and their votes for Guns’ induction. More importantly I’d like to thank the fans for being there over the years, making any success we’ve had possible and for enjoying and supporting Guns N’ Roses music.

I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!

Sincerely,
Axl Rose

P.S. RIP Armand, Long Live ABC III

I met Julio, one of Ms. Sariñana’s concert promoters, Sunday at a friends house and my ears perk up whenever I hear a name I haven’t heard before. Then I heard her husky voice dominating a playful pop beat and wanted others to know more.

Sariñana is already a success in her home country, Mexico. She doesn’t look manufactured (even though she was a child actress); you’re catching someone who’s just here and there to enjoy the music. Sariñana, lives in Mexico, sings in both English and Spanish and seems comfortable in her bilingualdom. She’s been around for about 3 years, since her debut Spanish-language album Mediocre in 2008.

Website: XimenaMusic.com
Twitter: @XimenaMusic

On top of the unsettling feeling of not being sure for a little while whether the singer was male or female or something in between the overall sound is too light and too inconsistent.

Released May 23, Torches has all the signs of drool-worthy goodness; fun cover art, unafraid to use weird instruments and even more strange rhythm breaks. But I couldn’t shake the feeling they were trying too hard to achieve something that, as of now, is beyond them. The importance of being earnest is not to come across as too earnest.

Someone in this band (Mark Foster) likes to tell stories and’s good at it. It’s easy to gain more respect for the band just reading the lyrics. (Perhaps only reading the lyrics?)

“Pumped Up Kicks” is, by increment, the best tune on the CD. It may be coincidence that this song seems to have had the simplest recording history – recorded, mixed, produced and performed by Mark Foster. Just has a nice lazy beat throughout telling the tale of a modern day teenage cowboy with revenge on his mind. Tells those with the pumped up kicks “you better run, better run, faster than my bullet.” It’s the most pure sound. There’s whistling.

There’s whistling?

That’s followed by the mess of “Call It What You Want.” Too many styles trying to do too little. Seems like it might be a dance tune, a nice little keyboard riff, some annoying beeps in the background which begin to take on too much earspace. Then it opens in a chorus of voices and the crack in the wall of sound causes the whole thing to crumble. I DID still find myself bobbing my head a little, as I did on several others – but I had long since tuned out of caring about the song.

Still, it ends with wise words:

If I don’t conform to what you were born into then you run the other way. / You say, ‘Now what’s your style and who do you listen to?’ Who cares? / Well that rat race ladder-climbing fake-face smile’s got nothing on me.”

“Don’t Stop” starts promising but then buries itself under layers – and those incessant beeps, as if their robot overlord was in the studio having a fit. I honestly had trouble getting past it and chipmunk giggling in the background just, obviously (should’ve been obvious) is unnecessary for the muse in music.

But I kept on listening and it came back to the voice. Being able to sing means letting those pipes rattle and not clog them with 401 different effects to remind us that it’s not just auto-tune that can kill a buzz with buzz.

“Waste” is Muzak lounge music. “I Would Do Anything For You” is the hackiest slackjaw love song going. “Miss You ” is another highlight, where one sound sticks around long enough to make a pleasant, lasting impact. And the rest of the CD comes to a lazy, shrugging end.

It seems as if we’ve been caught in a Ross changing room. Each song tries on a new jacket, looking for a style it can’t find. And you can smell the desperate hope for a worthy destination without a plan for how to get there.

Foster The People out on tour now. They tackled Coachella (without having released an album) and will hit Lollapalooza in August. I missed my chance when they were in Tempe, Arizona. I’d be curious how they sound live. Tell me.

Official website: FosterThePeople.com – Main members: Mark Foster, Vocals, Guitar and Synth. Mark Pontius, Drums. Cubbie Fink (?), Bass.

Tracks
Helena Beat
Pumped Up Kicks
Call it What You Want
Don’t Stop (Color On The Wall)
Waste
I Would Do Anything For You
Houdini
Life On The Nickel
Miss You
Warrant
Broken Jaw

If it wasn’t for one thing, I would think this band represents the second coming of Jesus. Well, his support band.

“It’s A Good Thing” has an insanely catchy opening riff, that instantly sends your mind spinning into “Who is this?” territory. Not so much that Choo Choo sound like anyone, but that they sound like they’ve been around long enough to produce milkshake-smooth-n-tasty music.

They sound like you should have heard of them. Bonus, no one you know will have ever fucking heard of them.

Lush, layered, with an accomplished steady crunchy pop sound, I refreshed as I listened. When I breathed, their positivity stood right over me, stiletto heels stomping holes through my skin to let the music enter more quickly. Less surreally, this foursome from Switzerland catches your ears and won’t let go – expanding your listening habits like a double-zero earlobe gauge.

It’s the vocals that seemed to let down the side.

While everything from the guitars to Lili’s keyboards is infused with energy, Dan Joerg’s vocals don’t fit perfectly into the fun. (They don’t seem do last names by the way) His voice actually do work much better in the more relaxed-tempo, “The Sun” but generally, in place of the expected supersonic and technotronic his voice has ironic and laconic. It’s slow where your body wants to dance.

Again, I’m new to this band. I’ve heard four songs, total. (“It’s A Good Thing”, “The Sun”, “We Go” and “Bits+Pieces.”) The found Soundlust.com via Like.fm and saw that I reviewed Cage The Elephant and thought we might dig them, too. I really do. I wanna hear more. And so do you because if you don’t you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.

Look out for an upcoming review of the rest of Choo Choo’s second album, Cannes, (Chop Records nope, it’s not in English) released earlier this year.

Win a song download:

Radiohead self-released an album again. People are again calling it the model of the future and thebestthingeverohmyGod.

OK, but what about the music?

“Lotus Flower” and “Feral” are The King of Limbs two best songs. At least on first and second listen, so take that for what it’s worth. These two have a sound that make them accessible. While this is not a barometer for musicianship, I’ve never given a band “bonus points” just because they’re famous. If they sound good, they’re good. If they sound like they’re following a trend and phoning it in; like they have no passion or vision – or skill – they’re the opposite of good.

In that vein, Radiohead sound like any other band just getting started, an idea that comes ripe with the positive, the negative and the irrelevant. And yes, Yorke in the Lotus Flower video looks like he’s trying to become the album title. Go with your bliss, man.

A fuller, more informed, review comes later.

25 CD. – Sinead O’ Connor, Universal Mother. The voice of an angel, the attitude of a fallen angel. She tackles domestic violence and motherhood.

25. Keytars – Don’t fret, these key cases mean your keys will always hit the right note. Rock out with your lock out (Category: Stocking Stuffer) I bought them at a comic store but you might want to try to buy at Neato Shop or Amazon

(SoundLust is not being paid to endorse anything here. It’s randomness with a purpose – eclectic gifts for the mixed up music mind.)

By the end of the gig it was clear to me that what happened back in May wasn’t a fluke; While I know I’m a big Mostly Autumn fan and therefore more than a little biased, I still believe Wishbone Ash, despite their higher profile and name recognition, are simply not in the same league as a live band as was their support in May.

I’ve seen other veteran bands from Wishbone Ash’s era, most notably Uriah Heep and Blue Oyster Cult who, like Wishbone Ash have just one or two original members left. Those bands can still put on a great show, even now. But sadly the current incarnation of Wishbone Ash falls well short of that.

The biggest single flaw in their sound is that Andy Powell is not a particularly great lead singer. His voice isn’t well suited to the more melodic material from their classic ’70s albums. “Argus” songs such as “Throw Down The Sword” and “Warrior” were fine instrumentally, but Andy Powell’s voice sounded strained reaching for the higher notes. This probably explains why the setlist relied rather too heavily on somewhat generic blues-rock material at the expense of many of their classic songs – for example, they didn’t play “The King Will Come.”

That probably sounds unduly harsh – I did still enjoy the gig. At their best, the band could still entertain, and seemed a little more spirited than at Shepherds Bush. We still got some of the lovely twin-guitar harmonies, even if those guitars seldom really cut loose with the sort of stunning soloing of their 70s live albums.

But having seen the Martin Turner Wishbone Ash at High Voltage in August, where it was clear Martin Turner has still got it vocally, I just wish Andy Powell and Martin Turner would bury the hatchet and get back together again.

So when Swedish symphonic metal band Therion came to Shepherd’s Bush Empire for a rare UK appearance the chance to see them live on Halloween night was too good to miss. I’ve only heard a couple of their albums, the recent double album “Gothic Kaballah” and a superb earlier live album “Live in Midgard.” The albums are huge in scope, with multiple singers, choirs, and many guest musicians. I wondered how music of this complexity would translate live.

Before Therion there was not one but two supporting acts. I always make a point of getting there in time to see the support; you never know when you’re going to see a great band you might otherwise never have heard of, and you can always retreat to the bar if they turn out to be rubbish. Tonight both supports were good.

Openers Loch Vostok were an entertaining progressive-tinged metal band with a hairy frontman I could imagine crewing a Viking longship ready to loot and pillage some innocent Northumbrian village. Second support was Norway’s, Leprous. With a name like that I expected grunty death metal – in fact the band, fronted by a dreadlocked keyboard player, were nothing of the sort, fairly melodic, a bit bonkers but great fun. Both bands are well worth checking out.

Having never seen Therion live before, I wasn’t at all sure what to expect. The show began with just four instrumentalists on stage, progressively joined by two male and two female vocalists, both opera-trained sopranos, until there were eight people on stage.

The music they played can only be described as epic, and hugely melodic. While they’re not touring with the full choir that sings on the most recent album, the combination of four powerful lead vocalists still made for a immensely rich sound, whether it was alternating leads or four-part harmonies. While the focus was on the elaborate vocal arrangements, with the twin guitars of Christofer Johnsson and Christian Vidal the metal side of things wasn’t neglected either. One guitar solo in particular was simply jaw-dropping. The only thing I didn’t like was their reliance on programmed keys; I’d much rather they’d employed a flesh-and-blood keyboard player alongside the guitars and vocals. Saying that, one of the female singers did play keys for a couple of songs. We also had vocalist Thomas Vikström playing flute on a couple of songs. I really wasn’t expecting to hear any flute at this gig.

I recognised relatively few of the songs they played, I’m guessing songs from the new album Sitra Ahra, which I’ve yet to hear, featured very heavily. But it didn’t seem to matter. Their whole two-hour set was hugely enjoyable, and I can see this is going to be a band I’ll be seeing again next time they come to these shores.

And that’s almost all I need for the music review. It’s the best new song I’ve heard this week. No, really. Ke$ha speaks-raps more than sings; a very electronic processed feel to everything. Yet, still a character comes through. Bonus a likeable one.

Why do I have a soft spot for Ke$ha. I don’t know. Her roots are a childhood subsidized by food stamps and welfare; a single mother. This is not a person grown up through servility nor privilege.

Brutal honesty is always helpful and exciting when it arrives as self-awareness. Ke$sha is self-possessed enough to get through some bad story line. Attitude. Something to say. Wit. Humor. Yeah all that. Too, she’s a beauty in a unconventional sense; someone you’d meet almost anywhere, pretending a little but not having to pretend much.

Before you think I’ve lost it (too late?) turn on Pink’s newest, “Raise Your Glass.”

Right right, turn off the lights,
We’re gonna lose our minds tonight
What’s the dealio?

I love when it’s all too much
5am turn the radio up
Where’s the rock and roll?

Certainly, this in’t the sum of Pink. She’s well respected for, arguably, her attitude and her work ethic and mixing fun with meaning in life and song. Yet she also, began her career getting the party started.

I think KeSha has that potential, songwriting brushes with Paris Hilton and Miley Cirus, aside. Put them down as black marks done to survive through high-profile, though largely meaningless, association.

Is it sad that anything past a marketing package seems “rebellious” these days? Yep it is. Lady Gaga is pure marketing; without it she’d be nothing. Yet, these short messages on the front page of Ke$ha’s website belong to a person without an obvious packaging;

Nov. 2: “driving home from my video shoot same time traffic starts sunrise soo tired n soooo fking lucky u guys r gonna flip over this one”

and Oct. 31, “http://bit.ly/aSkBDT WANT “WE R WHO WE R” for.99 cents?! thaZ cheaper than balls.cheaper than a taco.pak o gum.coffee.CHEAP AS HELL!get it!”

While I think sincerity is one of Ke$ha’s strong points, this is by no means a universally held belief:

“… Ke$ha doesn’t really believe what she’s selling … she’s a young pop star who wouldn’t think twice about selling her family to the circus in order to succeed.

Yeah, but she’d do it … sincerely.

In the mix of sight and sound it was the music that took center stage Friday at the third creative explosion of painting and tunes at Gangplank. From hip-hop to techno to surf, Desert Bloom 3 rocked the mothership.

All the while, 10 artists focused on getting their visions on canvas, ready in time for an auction at the end of the evening.

The appropriately Twitter-handled @jackalert (AKA Jack Smith) broke out the beats first as the show started late. The rumble through the crowd said Dfactor – up next – impressed as they pumped out power-pop punk tunes.

Even the Red Bull gals made a quick appearance at Gangplank, handing out the free energy to a place that – at least in front of the canvas and behind the instruments – dripped it already. Gankplank is a tech-oriented, co-working location in Chandler, Arizona that also opens itself to community events. Desert Bloom was free to anyone who wanted to come and could move. (Disclosure, Desert Bloom is organized by guys who have become friends since I first wrote about and attended the last Desert Bloom back in July)

With “I’m Single” cards taped to their backs, Rebecca Burkhart and Amy Kopinski Donohue, shared a canvas and painted some of the first strokes of the evening. In simple terms, they had fun with cupcakes, and blue birds on a wire. Jamie Mulhern crafted a large owl next to Shannon Elizabeth Harden’s doll. Victor Moreno went all Pushead with his dripping zombie skull in white; Jay Fotos matched him with Frankenstein in perfectly simple white strokes and splatter spots.

It was not quite so traditionally gender-specific last time, but that’s the way it broke down Friday.

About the middle of the evening Sunday Morning Drive buried their usual acoustic mellow and offered an amped up version of off of last year’s self-titled release. They also threw in an inspired version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” Talking to them after their well-received short set they said a slightly more aggressive sound was in their future (full interview later this week) with enough song to fill a few CDs worth.

Surfside IV was the most well-known of the bands. Given such “diva” status, they kept the crowd waiting; a crowd that nevertheless showed their enthusiastic support once the Fez-hatted ones fingered the first surfabilly notes.

Unfortunately, I left before Stern Savage and Consumer were scheduled to play. The hip-hop head Savage is gathering rep around Phoenix with mix tape releases and a label, Arizona Stronghold Music. Though he started in ’98 he took a hiatus to, as he describes it, bring something that he could be proud of back to the scene.

(photos added Sept. 22) © Soundlust.com/Temple A. Stark

DJs and Bands (plus Twitter handles)
Jack Smith (@jackalert)
Dfactor (@Dfactor)
Sunday Morning Drive (@SMDBand)
Marvin Forte (@MarvinForte)
Surfside IV (@thesurfsideiv)
Stern Savage (@SternSavage)
Consumer (@Consumer)

Artists (plus Twitter Handles)
Rebecca Burkhart (@design_gal)
Tony Deschiney
Nicholas DiBiase (@hepnova)
Amy Kopinski Donohue (@thefabulousone)
Shannon Elizabeth Harden (@chanonista)
Jay Fotos
Victor Moreno (@victormoreno)
Jamie Mulhern (@maventheavenger)
Denny Riccelli (@dennmann17)
Christine Slomski (@LadySlomski)