Must be Santa...

Howdy y'all! Greetings from a cold, windy, soggy Arizona (at least I'm not trying to find my car under a 7 foot snow drift...). It's been a slow month on the blog front but it's been slow on readers too.

As our story left off... The RRHOF 25th Anniversary Concert was GREAT! After viewing one time, amongst the high points were those I had mentioned earlier. Also, a killer set by Stevie Wonder. Visits from Sting and Jeff Beck made for special moments but, Stevie just had it going on. Stevie's had his moments of WTF over the years but you couldn't deny his old stuff from the 60's and 70's. Well, that still goes. Stevie busts out on the old stuff! He'll play something that sounds like he's lost his mind on crack and suddenly he's tearing into a hellish version of 'Higher Ground' or 'You Haven't Done Nothing'. 'Superstition' is always a chiller, especially if you have Jeff Beck playing on the solo. (Side note: if you can find Stevie doing 'Superstition' with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jody Watley, consider yourself blessed)

The PBS aired RRHOF concerts left a bit to be desired. Chopping 3 cd's into an hour and a half broadcast, this Paul Shaffer hosted show was shown during one of PBS' beg-a-thons, slicing the show down nicely. Then, for my interests, there was a total of 46 minutes of content I placed on VHS. Cool to have updated (cleaner) versions of some songs, and a few I'd never seen, but, overall, a bit of a let down.

The station's got a really big shot of new tunes over the last week or so, many never before played on NOTIMEWARP RADIO. So, I think we got a good thing going on here. The Flickr page has been dormant but, dang, that's a big progect right there... Probably start getting some new stuff up there after the holidays.

So, I hope everyone has a great holiday and gets everything they want and all that. I hope you get some time to groove on some great tunes on NOTIMEWARP RADIO.

www.notimewarp.com

For those about to rock...

Been a long time since I blogged and rolled! Nothing like being sick to wipe out a 4 day holiday weekend... Cool stuff sittin' on my DVR at the moment. Last night, Los Lobos was on "Lopez Tonight" (the late night George Lopez show on TBS). The biggie, however, is the HBO special squash-down from 2 days to 4 hours of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concerts at MSG. Real nice write up in Rolling Stone last issue. I plan on watching that this weekend. There's a little hype thing on the "On Demand" free stuff feature on my cable that'd be nice to plug in before the main event. PBS has a chop down of the RRHOF concerts DVD on this weekend too. So much music to watch!

Been tinkering around with the playlist too, now splitting it into 4 mini rotating playlists. Still fine tuning but it looks like people are digging it. Slowly seeing a few more listeners here and there. I may be onta sumpin'!

www.notimewarp.com

Native style...

Hey folks! Cool weekend of music I got to experience. First up was Guitarist/Flute player Aaron White (Burning Sky/Sky Chasers/Blue Stone Project) at the Heard Museum in Phoenix. Aaron was playing at the Heard as part of the 'NU: Native + You' series. Music, film, and exhibit openings. Aaron was kicked back in the museum's gift shop, playing whatever the spirit moved him, with a small variety of flutes and his guitar at hand. Aaron's headed for NYC to play a series of dates at the Lincoln Center.

Next, it was over to another part of the museum to see a Navajo band from New Mexico, the Plateros. A family trio led by 17 year old Levi Platero, this band is HOT! While their latest CD, "Hold On" is a bit slick and shows a heavy Los Lonely Boys influence (not that that's a bad thing), seeing them live really shows the wide variety of influences this band has. They played a bit of original material and spread out some covers, amongst them being a great rendition of "Voodoo Child", "Pride and Joy", and "Red House". But make no mistake; this was no Jimi/Srv clone/wannabe thing. The absolute high point of the show was an incredible version of "John Henry" (I gotta find out whose version of that they're doing... isn't that a Leadbelly song?). They just tore... it... up... It was the kinda song where you have no idea what they played after it because you're still stunned from the song before. I just felt so sorry for alla the people who didn't make it out there to see them. They played a club with a buncha other bands on Saturday. I hope there were a few more people in the seats for that one. I didn't make that show. Saturday, I took in a pow wow out on the Fort McDowell reservation. Cool tunes, good food, nice weather, great vibes. Not a bad weekend with my Native friends...
www.notimewarp.com

Full Moon Rising Where the Wild Things Are

'Where the Wild Things Are' is the new release from Steve Vai. Not having seen the movie, I don't believe this is the soundtrack. Recorded at the State Theater in Minneapolis, this is being released on both CD and DVD. I got a hold of my copy of the CD last night but haven't had a chance to check it out. Look out for some tracks on the station coming soon...

I'm also checking out the new CD from Native artist Pura Fe, 'Full Moon Rising'. An interesting mix of Blues, Folk, Acoustic, and Native with even some hip-hop type vocals thrown in here and there, marks one of her most ambitious works to date. Some of the tracks (17 in all) draw back from her days with Ulali ("Mahk Jchi" makes it's third appearance on cd, also recorded for Robbie Robertson's 'Music for The Native Americans'). She revisits past works on all of her cd's, offering a different take of each song. Some don't quite hit the mark of the originals but mostly her remakes are quite refreshing. It looks like the first song from this CD to make it on to NOTIMEWARP RADIO will be 'Borders'. A real different piece of work for her, very lively and electric.

Also in the listening bag is the Beastie Boy's "Check Your Head". The Beasties have kinda grown on me like a fungus. I've always liked a few songs but not enough to chase down anything. I'll save that story for another time... www.notimewarp.com

There's more at the door...

The weekend saw the addition of 40 more new songs added to the NOTIMEWARP RADIO playlist including songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Earth Wind & Fire, Who, Blind Boys of Alabama, Blackfire, Junior Wells, King Crimson, Elvis Presley, Doobie Brothers, Clifton Chenier, David Bowie, James Brown, Indigenous, and a buncha more stuff. The playlist has been expanded to almost 21 hours of music, with more to come. The weekend also saw a number of listeners from around the world that usually don't hang out on the 'warp on the weekends. Most of the audience for internet radio comes from the 'cubicle crowd'; your workers lucky enough to work somewhere that lets them listen to music while they work. Hopefully these weekend people find their ways back this week, as well as you reading this blog! Free your mind and your ears will follow! www.notimewarp.com

A little bit o' this and a little bit o' that...

After being a bit under the weather the last few days, I've been adding a little bit of this and that to the NOTIMEWARP universe..

First up, was a few more items scanned and posted to the NOTIMEWARP RADIO Flickr page. Included this time 'round are some concert souvenirs from a few Rolling Stones concerts I went to over the years. When possible, I try to snag a couple of whatever item, so I can have one for display and one to lock away for safe keeping. You could say to keep it in mint condition but, I'm not interested in selling anything, whatever it's worth. I was collecting before collecting became such a huge business. I don't think anything I've got is worth a tremendous amount of dough anyways... Nothing that's gonna put the grand kids through college anyway. Besides, I'm a fan. I like this stuff. www.flickr.com/photos/notimewarpradio/

I've also added 30 songs to the ol' lonely radio station. Tune in to hear Raconteurs, Stooges, Aerosmith, Latin Playboys, Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, Howlin' Wolf, Black Crowes, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder, and a whole gaggle of groovy tunes.

There hasn't really been a big flood of people passing through the sites but that's alright. The Flickr site's actually been doing pretty good. I got some cool stuff to check out. The station's been slow. It's that weird variety thing, I think. It'd do a whole lot better if I'd narrow it down to just Rock and Blues but, I like a lotta stuff that goes beyond that. This blog, geez, I got no idea if anybody reads this thing. I mean, how does anyone find it in the first place? That "next blog" thing at the top of the page is pretty random but ends up taking you to the same blogs over and over. You ever notice all the people who just talk about nothing? At least I'm talking about music but... Well, anyway, there's not really a way to see how many people have passed through either. No telling if anyone reads this or not. But, for those who may stumble across it, I try to keep it interesting enough.

Well, until next time...

Twice as nice

Oh, man, was this worth the hype! I got my copy of 'Double Down Live' last week and checked them out last weekend. First, I checked out the "Now" disc. Great shots, top notch music, cool edits and effects. Way cool. There is also an interview by a French media outlet with the band which I found disappointing. Same old questions, no new info for anyone who's followed the band for any length of time. Otherwise, I really liked the video. Yesterday, I let disc one fly. What a incredible show! With the rest of the sound filled out and something to lay the eyes on, it put my bootleg to shame! It looks like this was the complete show as well (which, even at 2 CD's, the boot didn't completely capture). Having first seen the band live in 1994, I'd never seen them with all that energy before! Billy G. is almost non-stop bouncing and running all over the place. The craziest part of this show was that they didn't hit the stage until 4a! At one point, you see them going backstage and passing a clock reading 5:35! If you think about it, that is about 11:35p Texas time (-ish) so, as long as they hadn't readjusted the ol' body clocks, they were already physically there for it. This is a great pick up if you're a ZZ fan. Not a bad place to start either...

Wiser time

Wow! Another great show by the Black Crowes (10/22/09)! They came out and cruised through "Good Morning Captain" and followed that with a few singles from the past. They played about 3 or 4 songs from the new album and weaved in and out of their past catalog. It's the first show I can remember where all 3 of my favorite Crowes songs ("Wiser Time", "Thorn in My Pride", and "Jealous Again") were all performed. "Wiser Time" was the absolute high point of the show, with an absolutely searing guitar duel between Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson. The show was another one of those mini-State Fair sets, only an hour long but for $15 (plus fair admission), it was a killer deal for a Thursday night.

There's all kinds of new stuff added to the playlist since I posted here. As of this Thursday, I'll be able to expand my playlist to almost twice it's size (although I won't do that all at once...) so look for all kindsa sounds to be comin' atcha! Again, feel free to suggest anything you'd like to hear and I'll see if I can accommodate ya.

I hope to be getting some more pics up on the Flickr page too so, keep an eyeball peeled over there for some cool sights to go witcha sounds on the NOTIMEWARP network of media! (I need a catchy name for that...). So, until next time, keep it low down and funky and don't stop groovin'! http://www.notimewarp.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/notimewarpradio/

It's all good!

Ok, he didn't play that, but there were a few tunes from his latest "Together Through Life" that he played last Saturday at his show at the AZ State Fair. He came out with 'Cats in the Well' and followed that up with 'Lay Lady Lay' and 'Beyond Here Lies Nothin' '. Highlights included an unreal version of 'Highway 61 Revisited' (my fave of the night), 'Thunder on the Mountain', and 'Ballad of a Thin Man'. He came out for an encore of a trio of songs, 'Like a Rolling Stone', Jolene' and a ridiculous 'All Along the Watchtower'. All in all, a really good show. He didn't talk to the audience except for introducing his band towards the end of the show. I was also surprised there weren't any video screens on the sides of the stage, usually a staple at a show deez days but, it was cool. We had reasonably good seats anyways. I was also a short set (about 80-90 minutes)but they do that for shows at the fair. But when you consider the ticket price was only $20 (you also had to pay to get into the fair), I think we got our money's worth.

I feel a change coming on...

I added some cool groovin' stuff this week including songs by Talking Heads, Native Smoke, Dr. John, Sir Harrison & the Blues Kings, ZZ Top, Pretenders, Link Wray, Van Halen and Junior Brown.

The station's got a real good groove goin' now. With so much variety of styles, all joined together by the groove, makes it sound real fresh and original. Now we need to spread it around and let everyone else get hooked! Ain't easy, tho'... People get caught up in their own narrow little grooves and can't free up their minds to accept variety. They listen to things that are tied together with their own little thread. They don't always git what's goin' on when they come across sumptin' new. Sometimes that thread isn't so clear! Ya gotta look at it from a different angle to see it. When you find it, you know it's good! You wonder why you didn't see it before. You say, "How come I didn't see this mofo before? What was I lookin' at? Now, I get it!" So, remember that next time you see somethin' different. Is it what you think it is? Do you get it? Free your mind and your ears will follow!

Tomorrow's the Bob Dylan concert. Man, this is gonna be good. I saw him, I think it was sometime during the 90's, at the AZ State fair. Really good show. For some reason, I was surprised. Don't think he'll catch me off guard this time though...

http://www.notimewarp.com/

CLASH NYC

I'm listening to this cool special on The Clash, offa the BBC6 site (thanks to theclashblog.com for the link). Don Letts put this collection of commentary, interviews, and music all together. Part one of the 3 part series is now unavailable (?) but I'm checking out the other 2 parts. It focuses on the relationship the Clash had with the mighty NYC. Lots of it (from what I'm hearing) deals with their opening slot for The Who at Shea Stadium in 1982. I got the CD when it came out and thought it was fairly solid. You really couldn't beat the line up with Topper (Headen, drummer fired shortly after the release of "Combat Rock") though. While this sounded great, that magic seemed to be missing a bit. One thing that was sadly annoying, I thought, was Joe Strummer's constant commentary (Oh, the blasphemy!). From what I understand, the band wasn't sure how down the Who crowd was with them other than the hits so, there was a lotta splainin' going on. There's a great version of 'Magnificent Seven' that goes into 'Armegedeon Time' then comes back to 'Seven'. Cool! But Joe sez, right offa the bat "We're gonna go from New York to Jamaica and back" (or something to that effect). That's not too bad until he calls out the change during the song. Just let it roll, Joe! Let the groove take them away! I don't mean any of this to discourage anyone away from the CD. It's really very good. Ah, but what coulda been!

As for the radio station, new stuff added by Elmore James, Pura Fe, Al Green, MC5, Thin Lizzy, Nick Lowe, Captain Beefheart, 2Pac, Elvin Bishop and others. Good grooves of all shapes, sizes, and colors! Now, to go add some mo' stuff!

Is there anybody out there?

Greetings from the blog nobody reads for the radio station nobody listens to! Ok, that's not completely true but it has seemed a bit like Tumbleweed City in these parts of the 'net lately. Getting hyped for the Dylan and Crowes concerts coming up, as well as the release of a 2-DVD set by ZZ Top titled "Double Down Live". The first DVD is from a 1980 concert in Essen, Germany, on their "Deguello" tour. I've owned a boot CD of this concert for years and, lemme tell ya, this is a mudderfugger! I watched a couple clips yesterday and, man... no shades, no gimmicks, Billy's got his famous Les Paul "Pearly Gates" (now retired from the road; he plays a replica now), these guys just tear it up! The second one is a unique collection of video shot between October 2007 and October 2008. Director Jamie Chamberlin ("Rock and Roll Gearhead: 4 Days with Billy Gibbons") uses one camera to shoot his footage. Bare bones video for bare bones space blues! Included is backstage and interview footage as well. October 23 is the scheduled release date. If there's an accompanying CD, rest assured you'll get to hear some of that on NOTIMEWARP RADIO.

In the mean time, I continue to add more cool tunes to the radio station. I'm also looking forward to a cool car show this Saturday here in town. 2000 cars and another estimated 3000 cruising up and down Central Ave. Those pics will probably be on my personal Flickr page, accessible to all. Any rock and roll related buggy's can be double posted on the NOTIMEWARP page or maybe even here. In that great rock and automotive tradition...

A cool new Flickr on the horizon...

There is now a Flicker page for NOTIMEWARP RADIO. I uploaded some of the cool stuff I've collected and presented them for your viewing pleasure. Promo postcards from movies and other releases, buttons sold out on tour only, a poster promoting an album, an unused ticket from a 1975 tour, exclusive pictures taken at a major concert in 1981, special fan items given out with CD releases and through fan clubs, and a special autograph from a now gone blues - rock guitar legend, all on one cool photostream! The perfect eye candy for listening to NOTIMEWARP RADIO!

I also added a bunch of cool music this weekend including stuff by King Crimson, Ritchie Valens, B.B. King, Psychedelic Mooj, Prince, Charlie Musselwhite, Slave, Eric Clapton, Plateros, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chickenfoot, Slim Harpo, and a lot more!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notimewarpradio/

To Flickr or not to Flickr (and other stuff from Tumbleweed City...)

After cruising around Flickr the last few days, I'm debating starting an account for NOTIMEWARP RADIO. I already have an account but the idea there was to keep my photography interests seperate from the radio thing. Besides, what does a cool landscape hafta do with music? But I do have a large amount of pictures, postcards, buttons, posters, records, magazines, concert shirts, and such, tucked away in large boxes in the closets. What a cool photo project! I've already scanned an assortment of buttons (see first blog entry) and stickers, which you can catch some on my Myspace page. I thought "Well, that's scanned; Flickr's for photos". Have you seen somada crap on Flickr? You stand an album against the wall and snap a pic of it, still showing the wall and the floor? What da hell is that? Nah, I got some ideas... Now, if I put 'em on the page I got now, nobody's gonna wanna look at my pics of the lake when they can check out my shirt from the Van Halen 1980 'Invasion' tour or the iron-on that came with the Parliament "Live P-Funk Earth Tour" album. I dunno... maybe I can still toss some of the little assorted memorabilia pics on my "normal" page. I gots too much cool stuff that doesn't do anybody no good sitting in a box in da closet, know waddah mean? It'd also be a cool way to learn how to use my camera's manual settings instead of auto-ing everything.

On the audio side, more cool stuff added last weekend from Pops Staples, Porno for Pyros, Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Clash, Isaac Hayes, Jeff Beck, Lou Reed and a buncha other groovin' stuff. If you should happen to read this, go and give the tunes a shot. You'll be glad you did.

Rock for the ages

I got my tickets ordered yesterday for 2 shows coming to the AZ state fair. First up is Bob Dylan. He was supposed to play an outdoor gig here in July (good planning...) with Willie Nelson but that crazy Arizona heat put a stop to that one. They coulda moved it indoors (like they did with a B.B. King/Neville Brothers show some years back) but, I guess the idea was to play minor league ballparks. I guess the fair's a good make up gig. While his new cd, 'Together Through Life' had it's moments, the one he released just before it, 'Tell Tale Signs', was just stunning. Alternate and live versions of stuff he did in the late '80's/early '90's. It'd be cool to hear summa dose chestnuts!

Next up is a weekday show from Black Crowes. If you've never seen 'em, do yerself a favor; shell out the pennies and go. I've never been disappointed after a Crowes show (even the one the Gov't Mule opened for them). I've seen them every time they've come through Phoenix with the lone exception of their first club tour. Don't remember if they were still on the infamous ZZ Top tour when it rolled through here. Don't think so... Anywhose, they'll be supporting their latest offering 'Before the Frost', recorded live up in Woodstock, NY at Levon Helm's place. Great disc for alla da long time Crowes fans! When you buy the physical disc, there's a code inside for a free download of the companion 'Until the Freeze'. 'Freeze' is really a buncha country style songs. Different for the Crowes but some good down home stuff there.

You can currently hear songs from the above mentioned discs on NOTIMEWARP RADIO. Go there now! http://www.notimewarp.com/

Yo, y'all! (Check it out; I'm bi-lingual!) I added some cool stuff this past weekend including the new single "We've Got a Long Way to Go" from the soon-to-be-released CD from Aerosmith's Joe Perry called 'Have Guitar, Will Travel'. The CD is set to be released October 6.

Also added this weekend is stuff by Bobby Byrd (James Brown), Clash, Bob Marley, Albert King, Gap Band, Led Zeppelin, and more. Check it out!

Well, back to the day job...

www.notimewarp.com

Gotta be a first time...

Alright! My first blog! Second if you wanna count the Myspace one. With Myspace slowly dying out, I thought I'd try the blog scene to get the word out on NOTIMEWARP RADIO. You see the description up top. It's a cool mix of that stuff, with songs coming in and out alla the time. It's stuff I like. If I like it, I'll play it. If I don't, I won't. Not that I'm not open to suggestions. By all means, turn me onta sumpin'! But I'm not gonna listen to crap I don't like. My idea for this blog is to talk about what's playin', what's new, what I like, share some of my musical knowledge, and anything that's related to the station. The station's kinda like an ipod I can share with the world. Hopefully, I can put out stuff that people enjoy and come back to and, most important, turn people onta stuff that's cool. It's probably a bit more old school that current but don't be surprised to hear something brand new either. There's a lotta classic rock artists on here but not the same tired-ass songs played alla the time on classic rock radio. Maybe I'll play a live or longer version but don't expect "Baba O'Reilly" to be on anytime soon. There's old and electric blues in there, as well as some soul and funk from back in da day, contemporary native american stuff, reggae, and even some old school rap thrown in. Whatever's good! Free your mind and your ears will follow. Let alla the cool tunes in and groove your soul! Know whadda mean? Ok, no novels. There's plenty of time to blab later. Go to http://www.notimewarp.com/ and see whatcha think. Hope you like variety... :)