Darklands in a New Light
Wouldn’t you also buy the reissue of an album that you merely like from a band that you love? I first heard The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s Darklands almost 25 years ago, in September of 1987. I got it on vinyl because it was cheaper than the CD ($6.99 versus $15.99) and I had heard bad things about it. Recorded with a drum machine. Song lengths had ballooned to five-plus minutes. On the plus side, though, cranky Tim Yohannan of Maximumrocknroll had listed the pre-album EP of...
Read MorePeter Hook at Gramercy Theatre, Sept. 13
The right “Atmosphere” for Hair Club for Men. Peter Hook‘s New York City show (and first date of his U.S. tour) was moved from Irving Plaza (1,200 capacity) to the smaller Gramercy Theatre, catching a number of walkups off-guard when the show sold out. I wasn’t so hot on the t-shirts for sale. They would have been so much cooler if they didn’t say “Joy Division” and “Manchester” at the bottom. Strangely, even though Hooky was going to...
Read MoreEdwyn Collins, Live in Brooklyn, March 13
I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinn’s! Like everyone else I’ve been following the recovery of Edwyn Collins — erstwhile Orange Juice frontman and solo one-world-wide-hit wonder (“A Girl Like You“). The man suffered two major cerebral hemorrhages in 2005, for a while rendering him in a condition where he could only say four things:...
Read MoreBelle & Sebastian, Live at the Williamsburg Waterfront
And Stuart said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. I can’t remember for certain the last time I’ve been to a show that I knew every song performed, apart from the artist’s yet-to-be-released album. Maybe Grant Hart? And now I was seeing Belle & Sebastian, a band whose songs I really love. I know the words, man! Along with punk and metal, I do enjoy a lot of twee. Hell, I love the stuff Orange Juice did for Postcard (collected on Ostrich...
Read MoreEagle Twin, Pelican, Earth and Sunn 0))) at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, Sept. 22
If you’ve worn one of these on your wrist, you’re going to Hell. I don’t know how long the Brooklyn Masonic Temple has been putting on shows, but it was a trip for me to go to my old neighborhood, Fort Greene, to see a concert. The crowd (read, “men and boys”) dressed appropriately in decayed metallic wear for the bill of four Southern Lord acts: Eagle Twin, Pelican, Earth and headliner Sunn 0))). My takeaway is that I have seen the future of heavy music and that...
Read MoreRoy Loney/Cyril Jordan — Flamin’ Groovies Burn Up Hoboken, Brooklyn
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Cyril Jordan (left) and Roy Loney (right) throwing off some heat at Maxwell’s. A-Bones pounder Miriam Linna flails away in the background. I was so bummed that I couldn’t make the Ponderosa Stomp back in April in New Orleans for a number of reasons but most of all for missing the reunion of Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney, who hadn’t shared a stage since 1971 when Loney left the Flamin’ Groovies and Jordan carried on. (For quite a number...
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Ed Lin is the author of Waylaid, This Is A Bust, Snakes Can't Run, and One Red Bastard. Lin, who is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. Ed lives in New York with his wife, actress Cindy Cheung.