Showing posts with label Peter Case. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Case. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Peter Case - Wig!

Year: 2010
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:21
Size: 107,3 MB
Styles: Blues/Rock/Roots mix
Scans: Full

1. Banks Of The River (5:08)
2. Dig What You're Putting Down (4:47)
3. House Rent Jump (3:19)
4. New Old Blue Car (3:36)
5. Look Out! (3:30)
6. Thirty Days In The Workhouse (2:48)
7. Ain't Got No Dough (3:50)
8. My Kind Of Trouble (4:25)
9. Somebody Told The Truth (4:25)
10. The Words In Red (3:31)
11. Colors Of Night (3:25)
12. House Rent Party (3:32)

While recuperating from major heart surgery in 2009 (paid for in part by loyal fans who organized benefit shows on his behalf and remastering some old Plimsouls, Nerves, and Breakaways albums for re-release) Peter Case was inspired to assemble a makeshift band, craft a new batch of songs, play some life-affirming gigs, and record the resulting new work. Raise your hand if you think that a set of numbers written in those circumstances would be - sweet and sunny folk-rock? Maudlin tearjerkers? They're neither. Case sidesteps pathos altogether by offering a pummeling set of dirty blues-rockers played with utter conviction by drummer DJ Bonebrake (X, the Knitters) and guitarist Ron Franklin (Gasoline Silver).

The trio laid these 12 tracks down fast, mostly live to two-inch tape with scant overdubs, and the off-the-cuff vibe creates a thrilling authenticity, hitting the sweet spot where garage rock, punk, and the visceral wail of blues converge. Highlights include "Dig What You're Putting Down," a preening come-on that is both celebratory and baleful, with a lead vocal emanating straight from the id, as much a nod to the Cramps' Lux Interior as to the great blues singers. "House Rent Jump" - which could be about personal debt or the decline of the economy, or both - swings with a deadly insistence that is one part desperation, one part no-tomorrow revelry. The lyrics here are fittingly simple and direct, but still show flashes of Case's characteristic wit and poetic attention to detail, such as the beloved Lower East Side pizzeria and knish bakery that are name-checked in one song.

Case revisits his own "Old Blue Car" (repurposed here as "New Old Blue Car") and injects it with the messy urgency of a man keen on driving all night just to keep his life moving forward. Howling lyrics he wrote over 20 years ago, Case seems to better understand the reality of them. "Life is long and the road gets mean/but the old blue car is more than just a machine." /Paula Carino, AllMusic

Wig! mc
Wig! zippy

Monday, November 3, 2014

Peter Case - 2 albums: The Case Files / Flying Saucer Blues

Album: The Case Files
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 42:10
Size: 96.5 MB
Styles: Contemporary folk-blues
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[3:00] 1. (Give Me) One More Mile
[3:11] 2. Let's Turn This Thing Around
[4:07] 3. Anything (Closing Credits)
[3:15] 4. The End
[3:16] 5. Good Times, Bad Times
[4:38] 6. Milkcow Blues
[3:13] 7. Kokomo Prayer Vigil
[3:10] 8. The Ballad Of The Minimum Wage
[3:39] 9. Steel Strings
[2:55] 10. Trusted Friend
[3:33] 11. Black Crow Blues
[4:06] 12. Round Trip Stranger Blues

Peter Case has been digging deep into his tape library in recent years, releasing fine archival albums from his bands the Plimsouls, the Nerves, and the Breakaways, and now The Case Files finds him offering up some rare and unreleased nuggets from his solo career, ranging from a demo version of "Steel Strings" from his 1986 solo debut to a Stones cover cut in 2009 with the same crew from his album Wig! Considering the odds-and-ends nature of this album, it's a pleasant surprise that The Case Files is so consistently strong, and coming after Case has jumped back into rock & roll, it builds up a solid and enjoyable head of piss and vinegar, with a thread of articulate anger running through these songs, whether they're one-man acoustic numbers or exercises in full-on electric bash. Politics take center stage on several numbers, particularly "Let's Turn This Thing Around," "Kokomo Prayer Vigil," and "Ballad of the Minimum Wage," as Case bemoans America's swing to the right and raises the roof on behalf of economic and social justice, and though most of the songs focus more on the personal, nearly every track sounds urgent and focused, as Case lets his passion fuel the material as well as the performances. Along with a stack of his own numbers, Case has also included some inspired covers, and he charges into Alejandro Escovedo's "The End," Bob Dylan's "Black Crow Blues," and Kokomo Arnold's "Milkcow Blues" with the same smarts and drive that he brings to his own stuff. Even though these tracks were either demo tapes, radio sessions, or stuff that didn't make the grade somewhere else, it's clear Peter Case has admirably high standards, and these 12 songs make for an entertaining and empowering album that delivers the goods with smarts and simple, sweaty force. The Case Files proves this man's cast-offs make for a better album than most acts' level-best efforts, and with any luck, he'll offer another look into his archives before long. ~Mark Deming

The Case Files mc
The Case Files zippy

Album: Flying Saucer Blues
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 45:39
Size: 104.5 MB
Styles: Contemporary folk-blues
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[3:50] 1. Paradise Etc
[4:59] 2. Cool Drink O' Water
[4:47] 3. Blue Distance
[3:52] 4. Walking Home Late
[2:40] 5. Coulda Shoulda Woulda
[2:45] 6. Something Happens
[6:11] 7. Two Heroes
[3:52] 8. Lost In Your Eyes
[4:21] 9. Black Dirt & Clay
[4:35] 10. Cold Trail Blues
[3:42] 11. This Could Be The One

Never one to rely on formula, Case mixes his brand of incisive folk-rock with some simpatico musical styles for his seventh solo album, a sort of companion to its predecessor, Full Service No Waiting. Using a folk-rock base for songs like "Paradise Etc." and "Black Dirt & Clay," Case continues to ponder his past in song -- from East Coast kid to California musician and seeker. Aiding the new dimension are a folk-blues boogie with horns, "Cool Drink O' Water," and a smoky cabaret number, "Lost in Your Eyes." An old-fashioned Mexican folk melody moves the spiritually directed "Cold Trail Blues"; there's only one of his signature long narrative pieces ("Two Heroes"). For the second time running, producer Andrew Williams guides a slight departure and successful collaboration. ~Denise Sullivan

Flying Saucer Blues mc
Flying Saucer Blues zippy