The Damned - "Live Live Live - Tiki Nightmare" DVD

Ah, The Damned remain one of my all-time favorite of the original punk bands. So many classic songs, and they still bring it, even 35 years later! This live show, from London way back in 2002, features classic members Dave Vanian (the band's only constant from their 1976 debut) and Captain Sensible, joined by the always-enticing Patricia Morrison (now Vanian, best known for her work with Sisters Of Mercy), as well as later members Monty Oxy Moron and drummer Pinch.

That all aside, this is a fine show, shot well with multiple cameras and with solid sound. The band's 19-song set begins with a load of later-period sounds (mostly culled from their "Not Of This Earth" and "Grave Disorder" releases), before diving into the rich back catalog. Yes, we are treated to legendary cuts like "Neat Neat Neat", "New Rose", "Eloise", "Smash It Up", "Love Song", and more. The band obviously still has "it", as these renditions smoke with all the great pop-punk melodies and spike-edged attitude of their earliest singles. Sensible and Vanian don't show any age whatsoever here. The bonus interviews (with each member individually) are also quite fun. A must-have for fans. Long live the Damned!

(Wienerworld)

(Wienerworld)

Official Damned site

Scissor Sisters - "Live In Victoria Park - London 2011" DVD

Like a modern-day hybrid of the B-52s and Queen, New York-based Scissor Sisters' provocative amalgamation of disco, rock, club, and pop proves both theatrical and flamboyant. They are a fun night out, no doubt, and this DVD is ample evidence.

This pro-shot multi-cam festival set is perfectly recorded. There's the anthemic pop of the catchy "Fire With Fire", the befuddling dance-funk cover of "Comfortably Numb", and the sleazy disco trash of "Filthy/Gorgeous", among the many crowd-pleasing favorites here. "Live In Victoria Park" is a fine document of the energetic and dance-worthy Scissor Sisters live experience, and can be summed up in one word -- fun.

(Wienerworld)

Scissor Sisters site

Beer: Widmer's Brrrbon '12 & Boulevard's Rye-On-Rye

In the craft beer world, aging in oak whiskey, bourbon, or wine barrels is a kind of trend, it seems. Hints of vanilla, wood, and subtle fruity characters can be added via this method. In the spirit of "beer themes", here are a couple of limited releases recently tasted at Goatsden that utilize this "barrel aging" process.

WIDMER BROTHERS (Portland,OR) - BARREL AGED BRRRBON '12 - 3.5

Widmer's always been a solid brand, and even though they are co-owned by corporate beer monoliths (AB/InBev), I still find myself enjoying most of their line. This limited 9.4% ABV beast is aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels, and is comparable to the better-known Alltech Brewing Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, which has been enjoyed many, many times here at Goatsden HQ. Here's my take on this big beer.

Pours a rich amber, with limited head of carbonation, and not much noticeable lacing. Nose is some vanilla and oak. Taste is rich and sweetly malty, but I don't get much of the vanilla-like bourbon tones. The finish does showcase the warm whiskey character, though. 

This one's not bad, though perhaps a tad high on the price ($14.99/bomber).

BOULEVARD BREWING (Kansas City, MO) - RYE-ON-RYE - 3.5

Part of Kansas City craft beer legends Boulevard's limited edition, premium "Smokestack Series", Rye-On-Rye is an exquisite corked bomber of very strong but unique beer aged in rye whiskey barrels.

Pours a murky, ruddy red-amber. Very sudsy, but little head visible. Carbonation continues to bubble as the glass warms. Odd and unusual. Nose is unique -- I get wet wood, some fruitiness, butter, and toffee. Not that it's bad, just an unusual combination, again. Flavor is fruits/berries and some toffee -- sweet and somehow wine-like. I don't detect much of the rye whiskey barrel, though, as this one just seems more of a fruit-oriented champagne style. 

It's quite easy to drink, and especially with the very deceptive 13% ABV. 

Overall, certainly a memorable and genre-busting brew.

"Mick Vs. Keith: The Strange Case of Jagger & Richards" 2xDVD

From the British kings of unauthorized bios, Chrome Dreams, comes this double-set of DVDs examining both of the Rolling Stones' guiding lights. And, as often is the case with these sets, it's a disguised reissuing of two older titles, simply packaged into a new slipcase. Shamefully, nowhere on the packaging does it mention the titles included within. So many serious fans will feel that they've been duped. And they have!

The first disc is "The Roaring 20s - Mick Jagger's Glory Years", which I have already reviewed here:

Mick Jagger DVD review on Goatsden

The second DVD is "Keith Richards - Under Review", which is a 2-hour documentary from 2007 that examines the charismatic Rolling Stones guitarist and madman, from his early years to his appearance with Johnny Depp in "Pirates Of The Caribbean". I won't fault the content, as it's a concise and well-studied look at the man at his heights and lulls. 

Still, I expect some semblance of accountability with Chrome Dreams' deceptive marketing. I mean, packaging a pair of older titles together at a discount is fine, as long as fans realize what they're buying. Shame on you, Chrome Dreams. 

As a caveat, this set is quite a fine set for Stones collectors. Just beware.

(Chrome Dreams)

Legendary Pink Dots - "Chemical Playschool 15" CD

As a longtime fan (but not fanatic) of the Dots, I've lost touch a bit in recent years with the Holland-based group's spacy psychedelic experimental rock. The band, led by vocalist Edward Ka-Spel and keyboardist Phil "Silverman" Knight, have been a prolific force over the past 30 years, exploring everything from krautrock to post-industrial to ambient to musique concrete. 

The 5-track, 55-minute "Chemical Playschool 15" explores the band's more experimental and less song-based sides. It opens with the 9-minute electronic ambience of "Immaculate Conception", before dipping into 19 minutes of trippy, shifting textures with "Sparks Fly / Museum". "The Opium Den Parts 1-3" is what you'd expect, whereas "Ranting And Raving" is a dizzying electro-freakout with Ka-Spel's enigmatic verbiage. "Immaculate Conclusion" is just that, a summation and a fitting finale for this well-rounded trip. Excellent! 

(Rustblade)

LPD site - The Terminal Kaleidoscope

"The Fly" DVD (director: David Cronenberg)

Cronenberg's 1986 re-imagining of this horror classic deserves a look back, thus this review. Taking only cues from the 50's short story and campy original, Cronenberg drags "The Fly" into some gruesome and intelligent directions, and this 27-year old film holds up quite nicely today. 

Starring Jeff Goldblum as the brilliant and nerdy scientist who gets too careless in his research and Geena Davis as his love interest/foil, "The Fly" can be seen as a modern-day Frankenstein tale to some degree. Goldblum's character, Seth Brundle, has spent years working on "telepods", transferring molecular particles across distances by dissolving the matter, than re-distributing it (preferably in the correct place) in his other "telepod". When he tries the telepods on living tissue (himself after a moment of drunken weakness), he makes a terrible mistake, not realizing a common housefly has also landed with him in the pod. When the telepod mixes up his matter and the fly's, then re-arranges it as one being, he is unwittingly made, in his own words, into "Brundlefly". His metamorphosis from man to "man-fly" is not for the faint of stomach.

The human element is omnipresent, and Goldblum and Davis are superb in their roles. The splattery special effects are stunning and fittingly goopy, and the finale is both explosive and tragic. Fans of Cronenberg's other early work will find many similar elements -- namely a fusion of man and technology into a "new flesh" -- psychological horror paired with vile gore effects. I quite liked this one. 

Der Blutharsch - "The Track Of The Hunted" CD

Albin Julius's 5th album as Der Blutharsch (originally released in 2000) is a solemn, militaristic, and dark album of looped classical samples and martial song structures. With inspirations from old European musics, and not without a modicum of controversy (some have labeled Julius's projects fascist due to his flirtation with Nazi and other suspect ideological imagery), Der Blutharsch's bold music shows a close kinship to bands like early Laibach or Death In June. 

What these 10 untitled tracks lack in subtlety or complexity, they make up for in single-mindedness. Each track is nearly mantric, with repetitive structures and a limited sound scope. "Track 7" lightens up a bit with some brass samples, as does the whimsical "Track 9", which is a scratchy recording taken from an early 20th century folk recording. It closes out with "Track 10" -- a bombastic (live?) cut with big drums and declarative chants. A solid work, not outstanding or unique, but certainly a treat for fans of the aforementioned DIJ or Laibach's early militant industrial sounds.

(WKN via Tesco)

Der Blutharsch site