aeolianblues

Oh this hits a spot. This is a 2019 single from The Velveteins, from Edmonton, Alberta. The band played at this year's South by Southwest showcase festival.

It really fits into that summer psychedelic dream rock vibe that quite a lot of Canadian bands have at the moment, frankly I love it. It's great.

Re: tags!! <3 I thought I’d dig up some more of my favourite stuff from Alberta in recent years!

Here’s Travis Bretzer from Edmonton, making kinda slower, hazier indie-tinged vapourware I think it’s called? (I always get that wrong)

And here is one of my favourite garage/rock bands right now, and they’re a two-piece from Calgary called Scratch Buffalo. They’d once mailed us their single on radio, the brightest-ever pink vinyl with a strawberry on the cover, who looked super excited to be electrocuted. And then, us not really being vinyl experts, we spun their 33 RPM single at 45 RPM and the band sounded like they were on helium. Here’s the thing—the music was already so energetic that we didn’t notice anything until halfway through the song, when someone more familiar with vinyls turned down the disc speed mid-song. Unforgettable, and an unforgettable band!

Oh, I found a picture of the disc:

The cover and the ‘Nutritional Facts’ label on the band are just incredible

Every day i think about those black musicians whose songs were made into covers by white people and now everyone thinks that these are the originals. Youtube comment sections are full of people like "is this what it feels like to find out you're adopted?" instead of celebrating and promoting the original creators of the songs.

Gloria Jones - Tainted Love

Little Eva - Loco-Motion

Martha & The Vandellas - Dancing in the Streets

James Ray - I've Got My Mind Set On You

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

Robert Knight - Everlasting Love

Erma Franklin - Piece of My Heart

The Family - Nothing Compares 2 U (written by Prince)

The Supremes - You Can't Hurry Love

The Supremes - Keep Me Hanging On

The Top Notes - Twist and Shout

Lord Creator - Kingston Town

The Paragons - Tide is High

Commodores - Easy

And here's an entire playlist with songs by black artists covered by The Rolling Stones:

I almost feel sorry for heterosexual homophobic males who think rock is “for them”. I mean peak 70s rock and roll filled with himbos, gender fluids and bissexuals??? All the huge male rock bands wearing high heels and make up? Motley crüe, the highest example of fuckboys trashing hotel rooms, but dressed like this on the meantime

Twisted sister just being twisted sister and saying that if some guy thought that wearing pink jackets with spikes, drag queen make up and heels made them “less of a man” they could just fuck off because rock isnt about that gender centered shit.

Lou fucking Reed went to conversion therapy for being gay and later on he went and wrote a bunch of rock songs about the LGBT community and traumas caused by homophobia. One of The Velvet Underground’s albums was listed by Rolling Stone as the 13th most influential rock album from all time, and it was all about an ex boyfriend named Nico.

ALSO from the first wave of rock and roll in the 60s, The Kinks had Sir Ray Davies, an openly queer vocalist in the fucking 60s who also wrote a popular song about a trans woman (Lola) and had some huge hits people still listen to 50+ yers later. The Who made huge success also in the 60s and Pete Townshend (vocals) came out as bisexual and non binary during an interview in 89!!

Prince on live tv wearing tight pants with huge holes on his buttcheeks and singing about kissing girls and boys.

Even some more “conservative” artists in the 60s like George Harrison and Bob Dylan were writing love songs to each other?? One of Bob’s writings to George actually says “All I have is yours; I’ll let you have me anytime”. They were described as soulmates by George’s wife.

To finish my ted talk I’ll just leave Mick Jagger being a himbo with glittery eyeshadow, tight corserts with titties out, low waist tight pants with a PINK BRA ON? Bowie wearing a dress in a 1970s album cover??

So yes I will take classic rock back for the gays™️ and gatekeep it from straig*t man.

Not to mention Queen, one of the biggest queer (and POC!)-fronted band’s in the rock and roll world! Often when Queen fans like to point out Freddie’s writing’s from the queer point of view, straight fans will come to the forth and be like “no fuck you, Queen is for everybody and in fact, Freddie would have wanted us all of us to enjoy his lyrics and so YOU are gatekeeping us poor straights from the Queen community” (the Queen fandom can be toxic in general sometimes) BUT no, that’s not the point of people interpreting things from a queer point of view?

Rock and roll has historically been a haven for the outcasts, the misfits of society. How on earth would queer people not have been a massive part of that?

People like to selectively forget the parts of history they don’t like, but we can’t let it be lost because there’s power in knowledge, and in knowing that you’re not alone. I didn’t know Pete Townshend was enby!

Happy birthday to the Godmother of Rock and Roll, Sister Rosetta Tharpe! (b. March 20, 1915)

Considering the momentous and long overdue recognition that Sister Rosetta Tharpe deserves (her anticipated induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, 2018), let’s take advantage of what the media has to offer on her - videos/footage, music, books, etc. and spread it today in her honor. Even if you think you shouldn’t care about this, if you think music has nothing to do with your blog or you don’t care about history - let me tell you something: you should. Now, more than ever, you should. When there are so many resources to help you educate yourself and others in topics like why Sister Rosetta Tharpe was and still is so important, please take advantage of them. If I were you, I would try to think of it this way: she deserves your voice behind her, too. And if you can, in a respectful, if not objective (not objectifying!!), way. So honor her and honor your abilities to do so!

Now, some quick facts about Sister Rosetta Tharpe and her music:

[ID: four GIFs and two photos of Sister Rosetta Tharpe playing guitar and performing. They say “Happy birthday Sister Rosetta Tharpe / March 20, 1915 - October 9, 1973″. End ID.]

little late with this one but happy birthday Sister Rosetta Tharpe!!!

I read the Variety editorial A Warning To The Music Business written in the 1950’s.

Abel Green seems a right uptight cunt. Even his obituary in the NYT from 1972 seems subdued.

Realised this bit should probably have been the actual text and not just tags.