Saturday, October 3, 2009

MAC AND WILL'S FIXION, AND JOAN ELECTRIFY

Another week gone and we are into October. Where is it all going?

Fun part was I had lunch with a fellow Bunnymen fan. We talked business first and pleasure second. This way I get my parking pass paid for. I was told of another alternative that I had not thought of that makes my trip to Liverpool a much more relaxing and enjoyable experience. It's now a done deal. Three nights with the Bunnymen in their home town.

I wanted something a little different tonight and pulled out a mix of studio and live songs, a collection labeled as Electrafixion Live Mix (1994-1996).

Wikipedia describes the band as follows:

Electrafixion were an alternative rock band, formed by former Echo & the Bunnymen members Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant in 1994, joined by bass guitarist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan. They released one album, Burned, and four singles and EPs before splitting up in 1996, due to the reformation of the Bunnymen. A posthumous limited edition 7" single, "Baseball Bill" was released in 1997. When touring, the band included Julian Phillips (formerly of Marion) on bass and his brother, George Phillips, on drums.

The music of Electrafixion has been described as The Bunneymen on steroids. It is a great collection of songs that, in my opinion, sounds better than much of what EATB has put since then.

"It's a bit heavier than the Bunnymen. We did Zephyr in Mac's basement on a 12-track, and we did the other three songs in just a couple of days, just basically treating them like a garage band thing. They're a bit 'rough and ready.' - Will Sergeant, 1994

"This record is hard-hitting. It's me and Will fighting back and staking our claim. A lot of this current stuff is ours, and we want to claim it back." - Ian McCulloch, 1995

...the kind of groove-driven, metal-edged noise that might appeal to the NIN crowd, though post-industrial Echo fans will probably not be disappointed...all the songs are full-blooded guitar feasts, served up on a bed of grinding bass lines and smashing drums, glazed with McCulloch's otherworldly vocals. The new recipe is convincing... - Seattle Stranger, 1995

Travels the distance
Immune to the suffering
Seeks the holy grail

Change we all can hear
An angels voice that's fallen
Ian's growing up

Download it here:
I thought it would be a one CD night but after getting juiced up with Electrafixion, I was left wanting more. I turned to someone I had not listened to for a long time, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. I don't remember exactly when, but it must have been in 1983 or 1984 when I saw Joan and her band perform live in Columbia, South Carolina. I had downloaded a couple of her concert for a night like this one. I wanted hard edged rock and roll!

According to Wikipedia:

Her musical and song-writing approach is heavily influenced by the hard-edged, hard beat-driven rhythms common to many rock bands of her native Philadelphia, often featuring lyrics surrounding themes of lost love, criticisms of insincerity, the struggles and resolution of the American working class, and the quest for authenticity.

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