Hey old NewmRadio friends.  I’ve been missing the daily bs and banter ’round this blog…and of course RT…but my time has been tied up lately with new things.  If you haven’t heard my weekly radio show yet, there’s actually a lot of overlap.  I’ve even been rockin’ the ‘Case for (Phil) Collins’ segment every week on the show!  I noticed it’s harder to put parentheses around (Phil) when you’re speaking.

The show is called Beyond Beyond is Beyond and yes, I just learned the word ‘Beyond’ and am over-using it like a 3-year old.  It’s listenable at all times on eastvillageradio.com but I record live weekly on Thursdays between noon and 2:00 ET.  After that, you can listen to the most recent show in the archive.

When writing about an event that I’ll be DJ’ing at this weekend, a writer on the EVR page recently (today) said this about the show…and pretty much nailed it…

Let’s face it: most of your hipster types were too cool (or, secretly, too geeky) to go to their proms. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on that primal rite of passage, and just think: now you don’t have to wash your older brother’s van to get him to buy beer for you. EVR’s own Mike Newman, host of the hot new heavy-psych show Beyond Beyond Is Beyond will be manning the decks at The Shalimar Theatre Company’s fifth annual prom-themed benefit party Prom-iscuous, a note-perfect recreation of your typical high school prom right down to the crepe paper streamers and disco ball, except with the welcome addition of an open beer bar provided by Brooklyn Brewery. The party starts at PS 122 (150 1st Avenue [at East 9th], New York, NY) at 9 p.m.; tickets are $30 at the door, $20 through the website.

And if you haven’t yet checked out Beyond Beyond Is Beyond (every Thursday from noon to 2 p.m. ET), make this the week. Mike mixes hard rock, heavy psych, a hint of prog and some thematically appropriate softer sounds featuring vintage rockers like Roky Erickson, Man, Moby Grape and the almighty Edgar Broughton Band (best known for their mindbending 1970 single “Apache Dropout,” mashing up the Shadows’ dead-cool twang instrumental “Apache” and Captain Beefheart’s scarifying “Dropout Boogie”) alongside the best of the new acts mining those inspirations, like Wooden Shjips, Dungen and Akron/Family. Trendy folk have only recently realized it’s cool to like this stuff, but Mike’s been there all along.

I like that description!  And if you’re in New York and can come out to the shindig on Saturday, I can guaratee a good time.  Here’s the Time Out New York listing for Prom-iscuous.  If you can make it, then do!  If not, check out my radio show some time and maybe get in touch with me for show ideas or requests.  I’d always love to hear from ya!

Cheers!

Mike

I just got word yesterday that my radio show, Beyond Beyond is Beyond, is going to become a fixture on East Village Radio.  The show received lots of great feedback after a couple test run slots and it will now be airing weekly, every Thursday from noon to 2:00 (starting March 5th).  Tune in live!

Wanna hear the first two test-run shows?  Well, here they are…

Beyond Beyond is Beyond #1 (podcasted mp3 file via Sendspace)

Beyond Beyond is Beyond #2 (link to a stream of the show)

Those should tide you over till March 5th, when I go back live!  You can email me requests, rants, raves, mp3 messages…to beyondbeyondisbeyond (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks for lissnin’!

Hay…

In case you missed the first edition of my new radio show, Beyond Beyond is Beyond, you can download an mp3 of the stream here.  The sound quality isn’t perfect as it was a rendering of a stream and there were a couple mic anomalies, but still definitely listenable.

And, the second edition will be airing live on East Village Radio’s “On the Fly” spot on Thursday, February 12th from 2pm to 4pm.  After that, a stream will be available there for a week too.  The second BBiB show, aka Lovepsych, will have all kinds of lovey Valentine’s-related stuff and emails and requests from you, your loved one, or perhaps someone you know.

And then after that, I’m hoping that my show will become a permanent fixture on East Village Radio and you’ll be able to hear me there whenever you want!  Fingers crossed.

You can also email requests, rants, stories, mp3’s of your own recorded voice for use on future shows to beyondbeyondisbeyond(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks for listening…and participating!

Mike

* lynx sys by Macho Mel

Oh yeah…and check out my first photography assignment for the Flavorwire

Another Skynyrd original, and rock original, passed…

Hey guys, I just played Jesse Sykes on my first Beyond Beyond is Beyond radio show on East Village Radio and was happy to stumble on this brand-new Daytrotter Session that the band just did.  There are 4 songs that are recorded live in a studio and there is plenty of fuzzy guitar and haunting vocals and that other nice trippy stuff I dig.  Check out the session here, you can even download all of the songs to put in your very own iTunes library!

Says Jesse of the live Daytrotter Session:

these songs were recorded in early october as we were be-lining it home from a US tour to catch a plane to europe where we were to continue for a couple more weeks…as we pulled into the daytrotter studio our van started to make some funny noises…the kind of noises that are suggesting to you that you may be screwed!! well, luckily we did the recording and the fellows there at daytrotter were very kind as i couldn’t have been more stressed out at that moment, as i wasn’t convinced we were going to make it home to catch that plane! needless to say, im so glad we have this document, as it was one of the best autumns of my life in some ways and as it always seems to be the case, the memory of that day stands out as such a cool testament of how close we have become as a band…dealing with things that seem insurmountable at the time….anyway, as we pulled away from the studio hours later, our vans u joints completely shit the bed (clunk clunk clunk….thats what it sounds like if you ever hear that noise…)and somehow we lucked out and found a kind hearted mechanic a few blocks away who fixed it on the fly….i remember the big white puffy clouds of iowa and the birds chirping as i sat waiting for the van to be fixed…lots of kind gentle souls there in iowa-thank you to all of them who helped us get home safe, we made that flight too!! anyway, enjoy this recording j.s.

Let’s remove everybody’s chains…

Cheers and tears to MLK and President Barack Obama!!!

My radio show, Beyond Beyond is Beyond, will once again go live on February 12th from 2-4:00 pm on East Village Radio after a successful first episode.  It will also be streaming afterward, for those that miss the live feed.  The hope is that after the second show, BBB will be offered a regular weekly slot on EVR.  Download the first show here.

Show #2 will be just two days before the most popularly unpopular Hallmark-created holiday for lovebirds, Valentine’s Day.  And wouldn’t you (or your better/worse half or stalker/stalkee) want to hear your lovey-dovey or lovelorn song requests dedicated to them by you and read by amazing radio host, Mike Newman?  Well, of course they would!  So send me all your email requests for great love-themed songs to BeyondBeyondisBeyond (at) gmail (dot) com.  Keep in mind the show’s format…make it rock or at least be trippy…or best case, BOTH!  I won’t be able to play all requests…only the bests.

Can’t wait to see what yun’s have in store, and your lover will be blown away when they hear their psychedelic dedication!  Remember, send ‘em now (no SASE required) to BeyondBeyondisBeyond (at) gmail (dot) com.  Sorry…trying to dodge spam…… literally!

*amazing lynx love imagery brought to you by Macho Mel, whose art is currently on display at Capricious Space in Brooklyn through Valentine’s Day

Well, I’ve heard of a couple reunions that are going to happen this year…and both get a fuckin’ rousing thumbs up from this rock-bloggin’ fool!  The one I JUST heard about today is Mott the Hoople…yes please.  They only have a couple London dates lined up thus far, but they best bring their asses across the pond!

And this one I heard rumblings about last year, like Flea will play bass, but it has been confirmed since the start of 2009…The Faces!

Bring ‘em on!  I just hope that tickets for these shows aren’t through the roof (who am I foolin’…they will be).  I’m actually pretty tired of big gigs any more.  There’s so much about them that’s unappealing.  First, the ticketing ‘class system’ is a shame.  It means that the kid that loves the band the most will never get good seats because he can’t afford them and rich douchebags will have all the good seats.  But rock & roll isn’t about them, it’s about that little kids dreams and the blues of the blue-collar working man.

And also the way that shows ’sell out’ within minutes of going on sale, but then tickets magically appear on a scalper site…which Ticketbastard and Jive Nation claim to have no hands in.  Bullshit.

My advice is to seek out the up-and-coming great rock bands and catch them at small clubs for $10-$15, and be able to say you saw them before they were huge.  And ususally those shows are more fun anyway!  The big problem with it though is for those kids in Kansas and East Buttfuck, Wherever.  Nobody comes to their town.  There are no cool rock clubs there.  Well, find all that cool music online, and move when you turn eighteen…to a city that rocks!

Okay, big tangent there.

In summary, big ‘YES’ for the Mott and Faces reunions!  And a big ‘NO’ to the current class system of live music ticket sales.  I’ve said my peace.

Check it out…will be chock full of great jams!

UPDATE: Now you can hear it here till January 22nd!

Thursday, January 15th, 2-4 pm

Hey guyz,

Sorry it’s been a little slow around here, and I’ve virtually ended RT.  I know we have a round to finish and Kev is one answer away from winning, but I may phase out RT after this round…but maybe not!  I’ve been spending time on different things and evaluating which ways I will lead myself into 2009.  This weekend I’ll be preparing my audition ‘maiden-voyage’ show for East Village Radio, which will air live on Thursday from 2-4 pm right here at this link (listen live upper right of webpage).  The show will be called Beyond Beyond is Beyond and I’ll be crossing my fingers that I pass the audition and end up with a regualar time slot!  If nothing else, it will be a great two hours of far-out rock radio!

Btw…here’s what my neighborhood looks like from the train these grey wintery days…

Here are a few things that have caught my eye lately that I’ll bring your attention to…

@ The Pretty Things have cancelled their 41st Annniversary Tour, which is a shame because the Pretties are unrightfully forgotten in the rock world, and actually released a tremendous album in Balboa Island last year!  As a matter of fact, check out “Feel Like Goin’ Home” from that album…

Pretty Things – Feel Like Goin’ Home

@ Brian Eno speaks out against Israel, which seems kind of stupid to me since neither side is right or wrong.  Keep it ambient, Brian.

@ Then there’s this.

@ And Ace is to truly become ‘Space Ace‘!

@ Last but not least…R.I.P. Ron Asheton!

Have a great weekend!!!

The truest sentence in this piece is “Apple knows what you want before you know you want it.”  Dig…

NUTS!  But we’ll all have ‘em by 2011.

Apple’s iTunes Store will also be changing it’s strict one-price for all songs pricing scheme to a pricing triumvirate … $ .69, .99, & 1.29.  Seems fair enough.  The only ones that will be $1.29 are the popular ones, and we hate that crap anyway!  Oh yeah, and everything will be DRM-free by March.  Clutch.

Sometimes a band comes along who reminds you that not all of the good music has already been made.  Unfortunately there’s way much more crappy novelty.  But when we look back in 10, 15, 20 years on the ground-breaking and lasting music from this era, we will certainly be listening again to Animal Collective.

I just ordered Animal Collective’s new Merriweather Post Pavilion album on 180 gram gatefold vinyl, and all record labels should take note.  First of all, it’s a band that are true musical artists with longevity.  Huh?  Wha?  Yeah, remember that crazy notion?  And there is really no one else in Animal Collective’s league.  They’re not indie, they’re not rock, they’re not electronica, they’re not jam… they’ve created their own thing.

Secondly, the vinyl was released today, January 6th, two weeks before the official release of the CDs and iTunes downloads.  How cool is that?  And of course, inside the vinyl is a download card which entitles you to download the mp3s or wav files.  It costs a bit more, $22.98, but I don’t care because I will pay extra for exactly what I want!  That’s what the major labels had forgetten.  They just wanted to charge a lot for everything across the boards.  No thanks.  That’s not what I want.

And lastly, I heard the last track from this album from some music promo site, which was streaming it a few weeks ago, and I knew I had to have this record.  Granted, I have been an Animal Collective fan pretty much since the band started in 2000 and was making a lot of very out-there music.  And I bought those ‘out-there’ albums because I heard something going on underneath that was truly sublime and original.  And now, I feel like Animal Collective are reaching their fully sublime, creative potential.  I played the aforementioned promo song, “Brother Sport” (which I recorded into Pro-Tools), when I DJ’d my New Year’s Eve party, and it was just perfect in a roomful of revelers.  Since I will respect Domino Records’ policies, I will not post the album version of “Brother Sport” here, but here is a live video of the band performing the song a while back (but keep in mind…the studio version is much better)…

Meanwhile, I will wait for my vinyl to arrive, since I ordered it a little on the late side for it to show up today and I’ll see what kind of things you guys have to say about Animal Collective.  Is it possible that they are the most innovative band of this era or are they just geeky little knob-twiddlers…or somewhere in between?

Whatever the case, I’m intrigued.

Also…check out the brand new song ‘My Girls’ on AC’s MySpace page

Happy New Year everybody!  I’ve been laying low on the blog lately as the end of 2008 rushed by, sending me to Florida over Thanksgiving, then Chicago the first week of December, then upstate NY for Chrismukah, and then to Heather’s bar in the East Village of my good ol’ NYC for New Year’s Eve, where I was proud parent and DJ of what had to have been the raddest NYE throwdown in town..and which also raised over $350 for the NY Times Neediest Cases Fund!  Matter of fact, here’s a pic of the two super-handsome DJ’s and their uber-stunning foxes at said event…

Ever since  7:00 pm on NYE when I finished my work and met up with my DJ accomplice, Rudeboy Chippy (left above), everything has come up roses.  We started the load-in and tech with some good hearty beer-soaking San Loco tacos and got the party ready to roll for 9:00.  I loved hearing from people that were expecting to have a nice chill NYE with friends at a bar, who actually had a drunk. sweaty, rockin’-till-the-wee-hours night of mayhem.  The beer, champagne, tequila, whisky and weeds flowed like a pirated steamboat on a delightfully stormy sea carrying its drunken mates to an island of renewal and hope.

The days that followed have been perfect too.  We had our friends/family, Scott and Mara, staying with us so we ended up doing all kinds of fun things.  Recovery day was spent in PJ’s brunching, watching football and setting up the new juicer and Saturday was packed full of fun stuff like the transit museum, a Broadway show (Speed the Plow sans Piven), impromptu ice skating at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and more drinks and football with Paul and Scott at Hi-Fi in the East Village, where we even had seats at the bar on a Saturday night.  As our guests headed back to sunny Miami Sunday morning, the rest of the day was spent catching up at home, playing guitar, watching a little more NFL playoff football and a little college basketball.

So I’ve got some music-related stuff that I’ve been thinking about coming up in the next post but before anything, I wanted to wish you all a phenomenal 2009, filled with music and love and all the things that make you happy!  And no more BUSH!  Good riddance, you fink!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

CHEERS!

Hey All,

If you’re in NYC, be sure to come by my DJ-event and super-badass New Year’s Eve party at Heather’s Bar in the East Village.  It is being billed as ‘Journey Into 2009: Werewolve Bar Mitzvah’.  It will be a night full of great music, awesome people, and plenty of drinking and debauchery!  And the small $6 cover will go to the NY Times Neediest Cases Fund to help the hungry and homeless in NYC during the brutal winter months.  Hope to see ya…

*poster art by Macho Mel Shimkovitz (whose amazing work is currently on display at Capricious Space in Williamsburg till mid-February)

So what is everyone else up to tonight, wherever ye may be?

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

On what LP is the Alice Cooper tune “Dead Babies”?

Wow…this is painful to watch, Jon.  Have a Verry Merry one, all! And a big thanks to Kev and Miki. You guys rule!

This one’s more palatable…

Well, here’s the first, and hopefully last, ammendment to my Best Albums of 2008 post.  Late last night I totally realized that I had left this absolute 2008 gem off of my list…and I knew it was a crime.  So here it is…you’ve heard me talk about these guys a couple times before in 2008…it’s Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears with their brilliant Flight of the Knife!

Flight of the Knife is a poppy prog-like concept album, full of complex and quirky arrangements, which are all irresistably catchy and satisfying.  Do yourself a favor and pick this one up…you will be pleasantly surprised that such a new band has the chops to pull this kind of music off and has the balls to make something this unique these days.

Preview songs on MySpace

All right, you’s guys, I’ve got opinions about albums and since everybody likes to show off their super-important and highly-refined musical tastes by way of year-end lists, I’ve decided to join everyone…like a sheep to slaughter.  I’m gonna have some oldies which I’ve just been turned onto in 2008 sprinkled in there too, so please don’t be alarmed that I don’t only listen to new music.  In fact, it’s not healthy to only listen to new music.

After mine, you have to show me yours though…as creepy as that sounds.  So start thinking about everything you heard in this last great year of our unruly despot’s reign, and be ready to list ‘em by the time you finish looking at mine.

In no particular order…

Frances – All The While

Okay, yes, they are friends but this album is truly original and stands out in a sea of indie-rock music that is becoming more and more boring.  Hooks abound, beautiful harmonies, and amazing arrangements…all with a good sense of humor too.

.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

Here’s an album I was all over when I got an advance copy.  It’s totally trippy and neo-psychedelic and totally up my alley.  Here’s me singing it’s praises last January…lalala.  The backlash is already present but isn’t it always there for bands who get any kind of recognition for actually being good?!  They sounded great at a super-packed McCarren Park Pool this past summer too!  I look forward to a second album from these cats.

Black Mountain – In The Future

Here’s another one that I got an advance of and I picked it for my year-end list last year even though it came out in 2008.  Trippy , heavy, ter’riff’ic!  These guys have a great loud live show too.  On the album, “Wucan” will hypnotize you…and live, “Wucan” will bewitch your skull.  You’ve been warned!

AC/DC – Black Ice

I refuse to link you to the Wal-Mart site (you’ve already heard my opinions of the big-box juggernaut), but I have Black Ice and I love it!  And “Rock & Roll Train” will become an instant classic.  It’s just pure great AC/DC-style stripped-down rock & roll, reminiscent of their best stuff from the 80’s (don’t forget Flick of the Switch!)

Man – Back Into The Future

Here’s a band that I still can’t believe I never heard of until 2008 and this is the album that I’ve listened to the most of the several albums of theirs that I got this year.  But keep in mind, this album is from the good old days of 1973…but it sounds great in this here 21st century.  The Esoteric remasters that I reviewed this year completely re-opened my musical mind and renewed my faith in the power of music.  There is so much amazing extra live material on this album (which was already originally a double), that it’s just plain ridiculous!  The live 19-minute “C’mon” alone makes this set worthwhile.  But there are plenty more layers.  Dig in!

Apache – Boomtown Gems

Pure snotty glammy garage rock that doesn’t take itself too seriously, brought to you by the excellent Birdman Records.  I saw these guys over the summer and loved the show…as you remember from this post.  You’ve got to hear ‘Boys Life’ from this album if you wanna get an idea of how fun and contagious their music is (listen to it on MySpace).  The rest of the album follows suit.  Buy it and relearn how to rock.

The Weight – Are Men

And here’s the band that I missed opening for Apache and Electric Shadows on the aforementioned live show night above.  But soon after I got a chance to review their most recent album, where I made the assertion that this album ’should be in every dive-bar jukebox in the country’!  I’ll stand by that.  But be warned: this album may very well move you to drink beer and whiskey in excess.  I’m thirsty just talking about it!

Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series, Vol. 8 – Tell Tale Signs

C’mon!  It’s Dylan.  How can it not be amazing?  I have followed the Bootleg Series’ since the beginning when the 3-disc box of Volumes 1-3 was released in 1991.  I actually originally got it on cassette…and now own it on CD.  All of the Bootleg Series’, for that matter.  I was the least excited about this one coming out because I wasn’t sure how I would like a compilation of later-era Dyaln outtakes and live stuff, but it completely holds up…even more so than the last four studio albums, in my opinion.  I just love the variety of it!  Oh, and take a gander at this.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend

If you’ve heard this album, you know it’s good.  If you don’t think it’s good, you’re probably a cynical douche.  Any debut that is as polarizing as this one was, has done something right.  It’s pretty funny that everyone that was down on this album was so upset that these Cape Cod-loving white guys would dare exploit African music.  Drop the punkier-than-thou code of ethics, buzzkills…no one protested when the Talking Heads did it.  The most hilarious slam that I read was by Julianne Shepherd in the Village Voice.  Here’s just a little bit where Julianne asserts how punk rock she is by making fun of a band that would dare know how to read music… ‘I bet these guys read sheet music—and carefully tousled nice-guy vocals drip so liberally with propriety that their style has, for me, become a resounding philosophical statement, a line in the sand. And because their whole steez is so ’80s, I am forced to choose Black Flag and Minor Threat.’ Julianne, please, you’re embarrassing yourself.  Anyone else will tell you that they listened to this album many times this year and it was almost addicting.  That’s perhaps because it’s upbeat and happy, and therefore not punk.  Fine by me.

Groundhogs – Split

Here’s a band that I’m still in the process of discovering, and what a rockin’ process it is!  1971’s Split is the first Groundhogs album I acquired earlier in 2008, and it is just full of guitar-tandem rave-ups and pummelling blues jams with lots of groove.  And it has the band’s probably best-known song, “Cherry Red”.  I’ll be listening to plenty more Grounhogs in 2009.

Dungen – 4

Okay, I’ve cheated at my own game here.  This is the 11th album I’ve listed, but it’s impossible for me to leave this one off.  You’ve seen me write about Dungen plenty of times in the past, and that’s because they’re one of the best current bands making beautiful psychedelic rock music…and all their lyrics are Swedish.  But you don’t need a translator when the music’s this good, but it does make it hard to sing along!  4 is a beautiful piano and guitar-heavy sounscape album that jams but then lays back and relaxes just when you want it to.  This album was an improvement on their last album, Tio Bitar, and it is up there with their already classic, Ta Det Lugnt from 2005.  Check out NewmRadio’s old posts and pics of Dungen here and here.

Howlin Rain – Magnificent Fiend

And lastly, but not leastly, it’s Howlin Rain!  I got to see them live at Mercury Lounge this year, and the guys just ripped it up.  Total West-coast throwback sound with plenty of reverb-drenched and wah-wah soaked guitars and Purple-esque B3 organ, great Dead-like harmonies and wailing razor-throated vocals by Ethan Miller.  The album just sounds fantastic.  Thank god there are bands out there who are not part of the louder-is-better CD mastering war that is happening in current music.

And since there are so many great albums to talk about, here’s some more (click on thru to the other side)…

Honorable Mentions: Josh Alscher – The Whisling Album, Q65 – Nothing But Trouble 1966-68, Earthless – Live at Roadburn, Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory (Remastered), Man – Slow Motion (Esoteric Reissue), Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul, Jeff Beck-Performing This Week...

Please bear in mind (or is it bare in mind) that I have not heard the Fleet Foxes album, which is at the top of every other ‘best-of 2008′ list that I’ve seen…and same goes for My Morning Jacket’s album and TV on the Radio.  This list is not scientific.  I am talking about albums that have impacted me personally in 2008. Now it’s time for you to talk about yours…

What was the first LP by Krokus?

Clown him all you will for his lifestyle, but Keith Richards has longevity.  Happy Birthday, Keef!  Keep doin’ whatever you’re doin’!

Check out “Wicked As It Seems” from Main Offender.  I love that album!