Yeah I'm sure you know the rest of the tune. New Orleans is just one of those places where the energy takes a hold of your body. The people, the music, the atmosphere is all something that you need to experience. I was fortunate enough to visit New Orleans a couple years back for Jazzfest and it was unforgettable. Seeing local bands such as Galactic, Trombone Shorty, and the all the different local brass bands really left a great impression on me.
Now to the real reason why I am doing this New Orleans music post. Today is the birthday of my lovely older sister. She was the one that introduced me to this style of music as well as many other genre of music that I continue to listen to today. So Happy 30th Breezer and I hope that you enjoy this Ragin' Cajun mix that I made for you.
I've recently been rediscovering my passion for 60s garage rock lately, and it brought me to a band that I'm very excited about. The are Nazz, from Philadelphia, headed by lead guitarist Todd Rundgren. Nazz are one of my personal favorite from the 60s, and a lot had to do with my father enlightening me at a very early age. Besides the obvious psychadelic fuzzy distorted guitars, my favorite band member has to be the drummer, Thom Mooney. This guy can play the drums, and I think you will see what I'm talking about in "Open My Eyes". Now we can't forget about Todd Rundgren, who is a legendary gurtarist and went on to a very prominent solo career. His sound is what really guided the group into what they are. They put out three albums in their short time together, but I can assure you their are some gemz on there. So to save you the trouble and time I've selected some top notch stuff from Nazz, all for you listening pleasure.
I recently picked up The DFA Remixes Chapters 1 & 2 on CD, so I thought it would be a good chance to share some of those songs with you. I'll give ya a taste of Chapter 1, and save Chapter 2 for a later date. So for now groove with The DFA and if ya like what you hear, check out all those crazy cats at DFA Records. It's good ear candy, ya know what I mean....?
I'm sure most of you have already caught on like wild fire when the Fiery Furnaces first came out, back in 2000, but I on the other hand did not. I guess I was too busy not checking them out and they flew right under my radar. Yes yes, this means I totally just got turned on by the brother and sister duo, but that doesn't make me a bad person, just a little more educated. It is very rare when bands slip past me, but they are a breath of fresh air when they come around. So it's ok, right? When I was in Nashville for my brother's wedding a couple of weeks ago, congrats to the two of 'em, was when I first heard the Fiery Furnaces. The siblings are from Brooklyn and are currently touring in the UK, but will be back on the mainland in November. They must really love to work, or just really love their fans because they have put out new material each year since 2000. So after a little digging and soul searching, I bring a couple of my favorite tracks so far in my Fiery Furnaces' quest. The first track "Single Again" is off their debut album Gallowbird's Bark (2003) and is the song that turned me on at the wedding. "I'm Gonna Run" is off their 3rd album EP (2005). Let me know what ya think about my slip up.
As all you costumers can tell by now, we here in the freezer love our dance music. Well this post is no exception. Chromeo has put out some of my favorite dance music, now if only they would put together a mix of some their favorite funky jams. What do ya know, the other week Chromeo hooked up with K7 and released a DJ Kicks album. Me being the Chromeo fan that I am, I preordered the vinyl about a month before it was released. The album features all 80s gems and influences hand picked from the crates. Since I got the vinyl I decided to rip a couple of these Jerry Curl jams. If your really diggin these tracks, go out and the BUY THE ALBUM, for these cuts are lower quality. Oh yeah, I also threw in their new single from the upcoming album as a little treat. DIG ITT.....
Saadiq is the name and old school is the game, and if ya don't like it then just get outta the kitchen. His musical background is steeped in R&B, but don't let Raphael Saadiq fool you. He can run with the best of them, and I think his latest album The Way I See It is a Motown masterpiece. Back in the '80s before Saadiq was Saadiq, he was in a little group called Toni! Tony! Tone!. Which pretty much launched him into a full blown singer, songwriter and record producer; working with a wide range of artists, from Stevie Wonder to Jay-Z. As I said before it is his latest album, but this baby has been out of the oven since September '08. So if you missed out on the release I'm gunna bring it back for ya. Saadiq is still touring, if you can imagine that, and he is coming to the sunshine state. He'll be here Nov. 28 & 29 in Miami and Orlando. Yes that's right Jacksonville he won't be stopping by for some pie, I know I'm sad too. I wanted to see him doin his thing in the golden suit, maybe bringing me back to the days of The Temptations and The Supremes. Oh Well....The two freezer jamz I chose are both singles off the album, so just try not to like these songs too much. I dare you!
So Saturday night, Ocean Club had this awesome local's night which features bands from around the area as well as some pretty cool bartenders. Headlining that night was this kick ass band BLORR. BLORR features Chris "Cookie Sugahips" Hess and Adam "Hot Damm Huckleberry" Winn. They are not your average Jax Beach local band which usually consists of either reggae or 80's cover music. BLORR has an unique sound of their own. With their live sets meant to be more of an experience with their Karen O (Yeahyeahyeah's) inspired costumes, everyone in the crowd is in for a treat. But don't let the costumes distract you because these are two very talented musicians. After a night fueled by groovy tunes and dollar champagne of beers I got to sit down with the members of BLORR. Here's how it went:
Freezerjams- So we have Cookie Sugahips and Hot Damm Huckleberry Winn. What's the story behind these "stage names"?
BLORR- Basically we wanted something really sweet and sassy. Huckelberry Winn came because I always wear cut-off shorts like Huckleberry Finn and Hot Damm just sets it off. We were just searching for something really ridiculous just like the name of our band, BLORR.
F- Well how did the name Bastard Lovechild Of Rock n' Roll come about?
B- Back when I (Cookie) was recording alone without a drummer I was thinking of crazy tattoos that would be a gospel-esk ridiculous name. Something as ridiculous as me playing music. That's when I came up with Bastard Lovechild Of Rock n' Roll. And then I was like that's too nice, I need something to mix it up with. So I added Bastard.
F- So "Bastard" has nothing to do with your childhood?
B- No, no I love my parents very much even though I was a victim of divorce and it shattered my adolescence......just kidding of course.
F- I understand that you guys just got back from touring places such as L.A. and New York City. How was that?
B- Well actually New York was one of our favorite places we played. It was cool because we don't know many people there but people came out and went crazy. I had fans crawling on my back at the Brooklyn show. Even though Brooklyn was a very scary and nerve-racking show because people were crossing their arms ina pretentious way, we felt the love of the fans by the end of the show through actions like crawling on my back. And we fell in love with the city. And the same story goes with L.A. the fans were just as rowdy there.
F- What's going on with L.A. and Nike Motel No Tell?
B- I've (Hot Damm) worked for Nike for about a year and a half now. And they asked me to move to California to do the blog and webpage for the Motel No Tell. Which is basically a renovated motel used for events and shows. Part of the deal was if you help us we will build you a jam room and you can record in there, which we agreed to immediately. Nike has been amazing to us from letting us record there to using their van for touring and gas money.
F- Future of BLORR? What do you guys have in store for us?
B- Well we recently recorded 4 new songs at the Motel No Tell. After our Florida shows, we will be moving to California at the end of the month. Gonna meet some new people and do our own thing and see what happens out of that. We plan on coming back to Florida monthly because we just love everyone here.
F- So if we were to take a ride in your guy's car right now, what would I expect to hear?
B- I (Hot Damm) would most likely be listening to Dan Auerbach or The Black Keys. They get you through tough times. I (Cookie) just recently got a copy of Robin Pecknold from the Fleet Foxes live acoustic show. Which makes me wanna quit music. The new Girls album is pretty rad as well. Anything Stevie Nicks, in my past life I was her lover and then I died of a drug overdose. Also T-Rex of course. We pretty much jam out to the same stuff.
BLORR plans on putting out an EP by the end of the year. To stay up to date with these two sassy gentlemen visit their blog or myspace or facebook or twitter, as well as here in the freezer. Oh of course, I almost forgot, they are playing a show at Square One on October 14th. So be there or don't ever come back to the freezer again (but seriously). Now enjoy a couple of songs by BLORR, two of which are more of there electro side and the other one is Sugahips ripping it up on the guitar.
As you can see in the picture the chef is whipping up some polish sausages and golabki (stuffed cabbage). But today's special is The Polish Ambassador, hailing from you guessed it......Berkley, California? Ok so he isn't from Poland, but he still cranks out some of the most funky dance music around. He's been leaving his mark on music now for a while, but I thought it was a nice time to show him some love, since it has been a too long for a fresh polish jam. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying check him out and leave a comment on how you really feel.
Yeah I'm sure you know the rest of the tune. New Orleans is just one of those places where the energy takes a hold of your body. The people, the music, the atmosphere is all something that you need to experience. I was fortunate enough to visit New Orleans a couple years back for Jazzfest and it was unforgettable. Seeing local bands such as Galactic, Trombone Shorty, and the all the different local brass bands really left a great impression on me.
