That's Some Killer Wood Block, Man...

Iota's "The Words Are True" ranks up there with 'All Right Now' as one of the finest wood block attacks in rock history, or something like that...

Not to be confused with SLC heavies, Iota, the Iota with the wood block came knocking along about 40 years ago, although that's all I really know about them.
maybe it is the same band.

Can You Feel The Country Funk?

Country Funk! It's kind of a deceiving band name, while you hope for some deep bass, hypnotic rhythm and some hot lap-steel-synth, you end up with a Parsons/Nesmith sound, which is by no means a let-down.

Download "Not This Time", its the groovingest track on their self titled record. Plays great between 'Tulsa Time' and 'The Funky Bird'.

-thanks to Lawrence Peters for this gem.

The Stoned Guitar

If the piano has been drinking, then, well, this guitar is high as hell.
Human Instinct's "The Stoned Guitar" is a study in extended intros, delayed wah and general freakiness. Its definitely something that could have gone on for half an hour at a live show, but gets its point across in under 7 minutes on this take.

HUMAN INSTINCT - THE STONED GUITAR

Flute-Rock mix

After a long vacation knee deep in the serene New England nature, the one thing that kept me awake at night was knowing that I'd finally have to deliver a flute-rock mix for the Steam Powered Man blog.
It was something I set my sights on when we started up this site.



The notion of Flute Rock is riddled with visions of one legged flautists at renaissance fairs wearing feathered caps, drinking mead and speaking with faux-British affectations whilst eating a massive turkey leg. In order to put the stereotype to bed, this mix was created. Granted, there are some frollic-y, twinkle ding-dong hippy parts, but don't let that take away the pure majesty of what you're about to experience.

FLUTE-ROCK MIX 1:
BLODWYN PIG - VARIATIONS ON NAMOS
GNIDROLOG - IN SPITE OF HARRY'S TOENAIL
GAA - GAA
STEEL MILL - SUMMER'S CHILD
GIFT - GROUPIE
HAZE - A WAY TO FIND THE PARADISE

download mix

We're Not Like Everybody Else

Here's three different covers of the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else".

The Chocolate Watchband (Los Altos, CA). Introduced to me by my friend Jesse as 'the most punk song ever', this version is certainly the hardest of the three.
The Sacred Mushroom (Cincinnati, OH). This version is much more subdued and laid back, but still holds a mean torch to the band's dark side.
The Finchley Boys (Chicago, IL). This version is similar to the Sacred Mushroom's attempt, but that ugly wah-wah guitar adds an urgency to the track. The vocals sound the most tortured of the three, naturally putting the lyrics to good use.

Which is your favorite?

Long Song of the Week: Gracious

British prog group, Gracious, released This is... Gracious! in 1972. 'Super Nova' is a massive 22 minute long piece in 4 parts, with sounds shadowing King Crimson, Amon Duul II and even some of the weirder Beach Boys compositions.

Lots of MELLOTRON on this song! That in itself makes it important. Love it or hate it, ut the long song of the week!

DOWNLOAD SUPER NOVA

Walkin' Mix

This mix was made specifically for walkin' around.
Throw it in your walkman on your way to the public pool!

BANCHEE - I JUST DON'T KNOW
KAK - BRYTE 'N' CLEAR DAY
BLUES PROJECT - YOU CAN'T CATCH ME
THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES - DOG MEAT
BOB SEGER SYSTEM - TALES OF LUCY BLUE
BECK, BOGART AND APPICE - GET READY
GERONMIO - HANDS

DOWNLOAD MIX

Organ Transplant

...and now for an Organ Rock mix!

TRACKLISTING:

PINNACLE - TIME SLIPS BY
DEEP PURPLE - FIREBALL
ATOMIC ROOSTER - GERSHATSER
ARMAGGEDON - ROUND
AZRACHEL - GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS
BLOODROCK - MELVIN LAID AN EGG

DOWNLOAD ORGAN TRANSPLANT MIX

-Velcro

Long Song of the Week: Lemon Pipers

If you've only ever heard Green Tambourine, you'd think that the Lemon Pipers Would never be able to pull off a song like this.
Through With You is a bitter psychedelic behemoth featuring a pan-happy stereo mix, some classic tape delay moments, a Byrds-like melody and of course, that classic Lemon Pipers tambourine.

THROUGH WITH YOU - THE LEMON PIPERS

Novelty Record of the Week: Sex Ed For Kids!

Sex Ed For Kids (ages 7-13)!
There is nothing more disturbing and funny at the same time as hearing 8 year olds describe the process of "mating" in a dry scientific manner.
Below is the entire second side of Sex Explained For Children, released 1972 on Carapan Records.

Sex hasn't changed at all.

SEX EXPLAINED FOR CHILDREN



-Velcro

Cover Songs

Posting the Euclid version of 'I Used To Love Her' as part of the Early Metal Mix got me thinking of other heavy Rolling Stones covers I had sittin' around.
I was able to grab this struttin' version of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' by Texas' Jamul. And with that, I found a few COVER versions of songs by the Animals, Hendrix, Neil Young and the Buffalo Springfield.

The most endearing thing about these covers is that they weren't done 30 years after the fact for some made-for-TV-movie about the freedom-y 60's.

JAMUL - JUMPIN' JACK FLASH (ROLLING STONES)
VELVERT TURNER GROUP - FREEDOM (JIMI HENDRIX)
STEPSON - IT'S MY LIFE (THE ANIMALS)
FRIJID PINK - HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (in the style of THE ANIMALS)
THE LITTER - FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH (BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD)
JOHN ENTWISTLE - CINNAMON GIRL (NEIL YOUNG)

I'll be revisiting this sunject now and then, next time focusing on the WHO

-Velcro

Live Debut!

Steam Powered Man will be debuting a live 4 hour set May 28 @ Sonotheque 1444 W. Chicago Ave.

Lawrence Peters (Magic Donut) and Velcro Lewis are the two djs. This will be an epic record dork session featuring some obscure country rock, early heavy and psychedelic rock, psych pop, fuzzy soul and r & b, synth funk and krautrock classics.
The end result: a very weird party.
click for more info

8 STYLE: Let God Be Your Gardener

8 Revolutions Per Minute

With possession of an 8rpm turntable comes great responsibility. People need to know how screwed up their favorite songs sound at such a slow speed. Some songs sound great, others are disappointing, but most are just plain fantastic. One of the best examples of "how slow can you go" is the MELVINS. In general, their songs travel at a snail's pace. When played at 8 revolutions per minute... well, you'll just have to download the song and see for yourself.

LET GOD BE YOUR GARDENER - MELVINS


My first impression was that of a sword fight with a giant armor-plated worm. On second listen, I was able to pick out parts of the song.

What's funny with this song is that if you play it on 45, it sounds like RUSH.

-Velcro

mix one: Early Metal

Steam Powered Man's first mix!
We will be posting a number of mixes for you to download in the upcoming months.
You can expect country, psych, rhythm and blues, noise mixes and more.

Here's our first one, the "Early Metal" mix:

My early teenage years were pretty typical. BMX, metal, zits, shitty McDonald's job, no girlfriend, beat up a lot at school, Ocean Pacific, etc. Since i mainly listened to thrash and death metal, I wasn't aware of any metal from the 70's & early 80's other than Sabbath and Maiden and Priest. People are still unaware of some of the absolute classics from that period, especially the more underground releases. That's why I made this mix.

EARLY METAL MIX or I DIDN'T HAVE A COOL BABYSITTER WHEN I WAS A KID

tracklisting:
DIAMOND HEAD - BLITZKRIEG 1982
ULTRA - MUTANTS 1978
RAINBOW - STARSTRUCK 1976
DUST - SUICIDE 1973
MAY BLITZ - FOR MAD MEN ONLY 1972
UFO - PRINCE KAJUKO 1071
WARPIG - ROCK STAR 1970
THE FLYING HAT BAND - SEVENTH PLAIN 1973
ICECROSS - NIGHTMARE 1973
COLOURED BALLS - HEAVY METAL KID 1974
BANG! - LIONS, CHRISTIANS 1972
EUCLID - IT'S ALL OVER NOW ( a rolling stones cover) 1970

now, this is a very long mix (45 mins) and I got a little carried away, so I have split it into 2 files for you.
DOWNLOAD PART 1
DOWNLOAD PART 2

enjoy!
-Velcro Lewis