The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released a new album, Meat and Bone, this year and we spoke to drummer Russell Simins to see what his favorite albums of the year were. There is some new stuff there, but a good chunk of the list is made up of reissues and uncovered lost recordings, and he's got some really interesting inclusions. Check out his full list below.

As mentioned, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will play a WFMU benefit (to help WFMU recover from Sandy damages) in NYC on January 13 at The Bell House with Jonathan Toubin, legendary Texas gospel funk group The Relatives (who also play Joe's Pub a day later with Debo Band), Dot Wiggin, and Di Dionyso. Tickets for that show are still available.

Russell's list below...

Continue reading "Russell Simins' (JSBX) Top Albums of 2012"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Codeine back in the '90s

Tonight marks the NYC return of Codeine, the highly influential 90s slowcore giants that released two beloved LPs and an EP before fizzling out in 1994. The band, now on tour, will play its first show in NYC in 18+ years at Bell House and tickets are still available. If you can't make it, don't miss them at LPR on July 15th (tickets).

Codeine's collective works have been reissued on in a fan-friendly format via The Numero Group (order yours). In celebration, I chatted via email with Stephen Immerwahr and John Engle about the reunion, their intentions, and where the darkness comes from. Read it below.

Continue reading "An interview with Codeine (who play Bell House TONIGHT)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Peter Wolf & Ira

As someone promised, Syl Johnson was the opener for Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's on Saturday night (12/4). Syl was also in town to play Southpaw on Friday which was the night Jeff Tweedy opened for Yo La Tengo at Maxwell's. Saturday night's comedian was 'Rabbi Attitude' aka Jon Glaser. The special guests were Peter Wolf and Ira's mom who made an appearance in 2008 as well. The mixtape was by Numero Group. Full setlist and more pictures from the fourth night of Hanukkah, below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo, Syl Johnson, Jon Glaser, Peter Wolf & Ira's Mom @ Maxwell's (Hanukkah night 4 pics & setlist)"

photos by Ryan Muir

I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material. Happy Holidays!

Some record collectors have moved from accumulating vinyl to salvaging careers. The Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans, Dig Deeper in Brooklyn and the Light in the Attic label in Seattle have all tracked down fondly remembered names to perform again. On Friday night the Numero Group -- a Chicago label that delves into obscure archives for meticulously researched reissues -- brought its dapper, potent Eccentric Soul Revue to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

J C Brooks and the Uptown Sound provided nonstop accompaniment to soul acts who recorded for the long-gone Twinight label: Syl Johnson, the Notations and Renaldo Domino, all with suits and ties and strong voices. (Numero has released a compilation, "Eccentric Soul: Twinight's Lunar Rotation.")
[NY Times]

Continue reading "Numero Group's Eccentric Soul Revue @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn - pics"

Numero Group's Eccentric Soul Review was scheduled to kick off a two-night run in NYC at the Grand Ballroom tonight, but that show has been cancelled and all tickets "for the 11/12 show at Grand Ballroom will be honored" at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday (11/13). Tickets are also still on sale.

"In addition to being the sharpest-dressed band in Chicago, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound have been taking the city by storm with their unique brand of raw power soul." - Gaper's Block

Motown had one, so did Stax. Three deep soul acts and one smoking hot band to back them up. The triple-header of R&B: the soul revue. Once a mainstay of theaters, gymnasiums and VFW halls everywhere, the soul revue ultimately vanished in the late seventies as recorded sound pushed live performance out of the limelight and onto car stereos and refrigerator-sized boom boxes. The performers returned to their day jobs and the world was the poorer for it.

That is, until April 4th, 2009, when the Numero Group, the world's premier reissue label, mounted the first Eccentric Soul Review, packing Chicago's Park West Theater with soul-hungry acolytes, satisfying them and then some with the real thing: a seventeen-piece band backing, The Notations, Renaldo Domino, The Final Solution, Nate Evans and Syl Johnson, putting on a show that combined seventies slick with revival meeting fervor.

It was a magical evening, as the past lived and breathed and got on down, right here in the present. Those in attendance went home that night knowing they'd seen something that just wasn't done anymore. And they went home wanting more. Well, the wait and the want is over. The Numero Group is taking this show on the road: Syl Johnson, Renaldo Domino and the Notations, backed by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound are hitting Columbus, Washington DC, and two boroughs of New York City.

The premise is somewhat similar to what's going on at the Brooklyn Soul Festival, which occupies the Bell House on August 28th and 29th. The house bands for those nights will be Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves for the first, and the Sweet Divines for the second.

The trailer for the Eccentric Soul Revue, a flyer and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Numero Group's Eccentric Soul Revue on tour, 2 NYC shows"