(Jon Spencer) Blues Explosion

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So I saw that the Blues Explosion is coming to DC in November. Does Jon Spencer still front the band? Because it's only listed as Blues Explosion. And also, are they still any good as a live band?

Patrick Sinile, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 05:58 (8 years ago) Permalink

Can someone delete this double post? My topic didn't post at first so I went back and changed the title and now it's on here twice.

Sorry for the double post, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 06:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

is still jon in bx - saw em last week, they're on good form. the new album has some killer moments, too...

stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 07:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

When they jumped ship from Matador, they dropped the "Jon Spencer" from the name.

Bruce S. Urquhart (BanjoMania), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

buh? they left Matador? what label are they on now? I haven't paid attention since ACME, which should've really been called NADIR.

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

I think they're on Sanctuary. I haven't paid much attention either but I was briefly on the Matador site and noticed the band was no longer listed under the label's active roster.

Bruce S. Urquhart (BanjoMania), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sept 28 on Sanctuary. Also released that same day on Sanctuary, the new De La Soul and a Wu Tang live album, recorded at that show they recently did with all the members present. The '90s live!

Vic Funk, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

what? why is Wu Tang on Sanctuary? that doesn't seem right at all. What happened to Loud Records?

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

Loud was bought out by Sony, and I think the Wu just left. For the last little while, whenever you saw a "The RZA appears courtsey of..." credit on an album, it's been Wu Records/Sanctuary. His most recent album was on the label.

I think Jon Spencer just decided to switch things up, because he switched Japanese labels, as well, and 2 solo-ish albums initially schedueled for In the Red are now coming out on Yep Roc.

Vic Funk, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

i noticed that too. i was aftraid of showing up and getting the axl rose blues explosion or something truely awful like that¡

anyone know why they dropped "jon spencer" from the name¿

xpost - oh.

dyson (dyson), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

anyone know why they dropped "jon spencer" from the name¿

As I wrote in the other thread on this subject, it's because they are a band, not a solo act (according to the one-sheet for the new record).

Vic Funk, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

I can't think of a single decent live hip-hop album made post-1985. What a weird thing for them to do.


I'll probably get it.

Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:12 (8 years ago) Permalink

Wait a week, the show comes out on DVD.

Vic Funk, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

derail: Loud doesn't exist anymore, i think. Mobb Deep and Dead Pres had to find new labels too...

stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

5 years pass...

For those who still care:

THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
DIRTY SHIRT ROCK N’ ROLL: THE FIRST TEN YEARS
Album released 24th May 2010 on SHOVE RECORDS
Full back catalogue reissue plans throughout 2010

On stage and in the studio, Jon Spencer has destroyed and rebuilt American roots music with such ferocity and wild abandon that it’s hard to believe there is anything left. The trail of musical destruction Spencer created with his legendary group Pussy Galore still smoulders in the avant punk blues and nasty garage grind of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, whose incredible, innovative output remains an indelible totem to his enormous mojo spirit and red-hot power of deliverance.

It’s been eighteen years since The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion first pressed ‘record’, eighteen years since Spencer and his A-Team of sonic terrorists (Judah Bauer, guitar, and Russel Simmins, drums) tore up the indie-rock landscape with fever and a visceral, untouchable vision of rock’n’roll that did for a new wave of blues-punk primitivists what Helen of Troy’s face did for the armada.

But make no mistake: Jon Spencer was there first. He is the original. It was his sanctified outbursts and blues-bending riffs that began the new-fanlged roots rock revolution and spawned countless imitators. With Pussy Galore he gargled with the Stones and Stooges and wrestled with industrial noise and fuzzed-out fucked-up sixties garage crud… with Blues Explosion he drove furiously into the future with incendiary spirit built from courage, audacity, and revolt. Nothing has been the same since.

SHOVE is proud to celebrate the legacy and legend of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with a stellar set of seven new-and-expanded, spectacularly remastered, and all-together mind-expanding, deluxe, CDs, beginning with the much-anticipated compilation DIRTY SHIRT ROCK N’ ROLL: THE FIRST TEN YEARS, a handpicked selection of prime cuts and barbed-wire excess from the first decade of JSBX, beginning with their first gutter-born scuzzabilly assaults, and traversing through studio masterpieces like Orange, Acme, and Now I Got Worry.

Indeed, the first Blues Explosion outings were lo-fi and raw; gutter rock’n’roll steeped in Sun Studio exorcisms, New York street-punk and no-wave pranksterism, with Spencer playing his famous $17 guitar throughout. But The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion refused to make the same record twice, as this compilation attests. From untamed, sleazy hi-jinks and brain-teasing sonic alchemy, to rock’n’roll fundamentalism, and depth-defyin, ass-shaking grooves, this is the no-holds-barred story of a band who grew through increasing commercial and critical success, studio craft, innovation, and dazzling artistry, but without sacrificing the filth and blunt-force assault from which they sprang.

Each of these new releases feature the original albums in astonishing sonic splendor and include rare and unreleased bonus tracks, copious liner notes, and eye-popping photos. All titles will also be available digitally.

These shall be released two reissues at a time in late June, late August then late October. In the following order:
Now I Got Worry, Controversial Negro
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (First Year), Extra Width + Mo Width
Orange + Remixes (2-disc) Acme + Xtra Acme (2-disc)

Ned Raggett, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

my father was sister ray

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 19:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

lol at non-chronological reissue pairings wtf is up with that

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 19:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

this band was fun as hell live when I saw them in the mid-90s, but I never thought their records were all that great.

tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

they were a blast live, at least for awhile. Orange seems like the peak of their recorded output

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

i remember i signed up to win a "controversial negro" promo shirt at oak folkjokeapus, it was a picture of mick jagger that said controversial negro but i didn't win it : (

Deuce Bigalow: Male Juggalo (M@tt He1ges0n), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

yeah, is Controversial Negro a live thing? i remember my college radio station had it on LP -- was it ever on CD?

tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

I have the Japanese Controversial Negro CD but the cover is much lamer. Its a pretty good live document. Spencer uses Steve Martin's "I remember when I had my first beer" heckler zing

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

the Jagger image was used on ltd edition LP pressing that preceded the Japanese CD version. I assume there was some copyright issue that made Matador pull the LPs or something

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

The schtick wore thin but they get a worse rep than they deserve. Crypt Style is conspicuously absent in those reissues, and might've been a good one to get out there to get people to give em a chance. Agree Orange is the best though.

Brio, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

pre-extra width stuff & extra width & orange are all pretty great. prefer extra width to orange though, orange is the point at which his investment in the schtick starts to feel too forced

they did murder it live for sure

the most sacred couple in Christendom (J0hn D.), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

I had a Controversial Negro t-shirt and LP that I got for being one of the first 100 or so people in the door at a NYE show the band played in 1997. At some point I got self-conscious about the t-shirt and stopped wearing it.

jam master (jaymc), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

i was 13 or 14 when I saw them for the first time (opening for the Breeders!) and it was one the scarier/more exciting shows I saw during my teenage years.

tylerw, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

isn't most of Crypt Style on Mo' Width...? I have a copy around here somewhere. Notable for featuring John Flansberg on free-jazz freakout saxophone on several songs

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

what i learned about John Spencer's Blues Explosion from reading that press release

  • they are an indelible totem
  • they are similar to Helen of Troy’s face
  • Pussy Galore was known to gargle, also was legendary
  • new CDs will expand your mind
  • earliest recordings said to be steeped in exorcisms
  • artistry dazzling
  • holds of band's story not barred

iiiijjjj, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

xpost - i think there a few different permutations of the tracklistings of those record w/ imports and reissues but pretty sure mo' width and crypt style are all different songs

Brio, Monday, 15 March 2010 20:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

I thought Crypt Style was different versions of the songs from the first album, but I could be wrong - haven't heard it in probably 14 years.

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 15 March 2010 20:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

I still rate Now I Got Worry, "2 Kinds a Love" is great and the rest of the record holds up too.

Neil S, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:12 (3 years ago) Permalink

I haven't listened to it in a long time but I remember it holding up pretty well. Acme is where things went off the rails (lol Alec Empire REMIX!)

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

Dan the Automator doing some of the production as well, both of those producers really date it to the turn of the millennium. Also, getting Winona Ryder in to appear in a video probably wasn't a great move.

Neil S, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

lol 90's

Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

videos were terrible by and large.

ugh Automator

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

On the other hand Experimental Remixes, their other flirtation with hip hop, is really good.

Neil S, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

true

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

videos were terrible by and large.

^ this is true of everyone on matador, fwiw. Sugarcube is the only one I can think of that was out n out brilliant

Astronaut Mike Dexter (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

nah the pavement videos were all pretty great

Mr. Que, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

this band fuckin ruled my world orange - acme.

ade or nabisco - i get em confused (stevie), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

controv negro is a great live lp too

ade or nabisco - i get em confused (stevie), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

videos were terrible by and large.

I dunno, spot in my heart for this one always:

city worker, Monday, 15 March 2010 21:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

re: Crypt Style vs. Mo Width, what I have is this. I guess Crypt Style/Mo Width are revisions of this material, in different forms? I dunno. Can't say I really care really either, most of this stuff wasn't particularly memorable. Hadn't hit their stride as songwriters yet.

Get the Flaps Out (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 March 2010 21:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

Mo' Width is probably outtakes from Extra Width.
Crypt Style, A Reverse Willie Horton and the s/t album on Caroline all draw from the same pool of songs.

Mike Dixn, Tuesday, 16 March 2010 04:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

DERO/SPENCER beef lives on: http://blogs.vocalo.org/jderogatis/2010/07/jon-spencer-doesnt-like-me/31837

tylerw, Thursday, 29 July 2010 22:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

lol I still love ya Jon. ace interview, all his answers are OTM

Master of the Manly Ballad (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 July 2010 22:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

it's interesting in the 90s profile Dero wrote that Spencer mentions Like Flies on Sherbet -- was just listening to that the other day and thinking of JSBX for some reason. anyway, that's sort of how I think of JSBX -- more than being a so-called blues band -- they're more like an unhinged, crazy southern rockabilly kinda thing. at least at times.

tylerw, Thursday, 29 July 2010 22:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

yr halfway there... the white rocker lineage of JSBX goes through Chilton to the Cramps, who are by far their biggest reference point. Which seems really super-fucking-obvious when you think about it. and yet I have never seen a single critic note this. the racism stuff is so completely wrongheaded. lol 90s identity politics.

Master of the Manly Ballad (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 July 2010 23:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

the leather pants, the howling, the jokey come-ons, the fuzzed out everything, the minimalism, the emphasis on bonehead simple riffs = the Cramps

Master of the Manly Ballad (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 29 July 2010 23:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

man, orange and now I got worry more than holding up. JSBX in becoming-one-of-those-bands-that-an-old-crusty-me-will-reference-when-talking-about-how-all-new-music-is-terrible shock

Dominique, Wednesday, 3 November 2010 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

THE BLUES! IS NUMBER ONE!

I'M TALKIN' BOUT THA BLUES EXPLOSION!

STRAIGHT OUTTA NEW YORK CITY!

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

Veðrafjǫrðr heimamaður (ecuador_with_a_c), Wednesday, 3 November 2010 16:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

Sorry, I left out a few exclamation marks.

Veðrafjǫrðr heimamaður (ecuador_with_a_c), Wednesday, 3 November 2010 16:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

my father was sister ray! Fuuuuuuuuuuucck!

kamerad, Wednesday, 3 November 2010 16:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

jehovah's witness come knockin on my door on a saturday

klacktoveedesteen (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 3 November 2010 16:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

Now I Got Worry is so vicious. I like to keep my family on their toes by playing "Skunk" at top volume every now and then.

Unfrozen Caveman Board-Lawyer (WmC), Wednesday, 3 November 2010 17:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

i do this by sounding an air-horn and screaming "hit the deck"

Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 3 November 2010 17:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

controversial negro is one of my all-time favourite live albums.

Doc Momus (stevie), Thursday, 4 November 2010 08:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

^ this is a fine way to be because yes, but reverse willie horton too

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Thursday, 4 November 2010 08:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

reverse willie horton was live? i thought it was just outtakes from the first LP sessions///

Doc Momus (stevie), Thursday, 4 November 2010 08:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

don't know how this thread has survived so long without this

reallysmoothmusic (Jamie_ATP), Thursday, 4 November 2010 08:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

no, reverse WH ain't live as far as i know, but is 2nd only to controversial negro in the JSBX catalog of greatness

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Thursday, 4 November 2010 09:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

ah cool, gotcha!

someone should poll s/t vs crypt style vs willie horton

Doc Momus (stevie), Thursday, 4 November 2010 09:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

Patrice Leclerc Delacroix Poussin (admrl), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 00:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

Seriously dudes, Controversial Negro (JSBX live) is straight fire. Even if you have written off this band/are disinterested, I still recommend giving it an ear

Wii man (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

it's pretty good. they always played things a little too fast live imho

it is funny when he quotes Steve Martin tho

satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

fast is good

Wii man (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

your band should play faster

Wii man (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

doesn't really work for funk beats

satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

play a different genre of music

Pizzataco Five (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

I... wasn't referring to my band? what are we even talking about anymore

satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

like, take the drum part for, say Greyhound. sped up it loses its appeal.

satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

#!

Pizzataco Five (admrl), Wednesday, 24 August 2011 18:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

7 months pass...

listening to orange right now (which rules)

i guess it's probably because of spencer's outsized personality and schtick and all

but i don't think russell simins gets enough credit for being one of the best drummers of the 90s

god the dude is so funky and tight

Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 11 April 2012 22:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh yeah, totally. my fandom of JSBX and my obsession w/ playing drums peaked around the same time so i really worshiped him for a while.

deejeridoo (some dude), Thursday, 12 April 2012 00:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah, he was the weapon. spencer was fun and all, but it was simins who made that band swing. one of the best live shows of their era.

think he was the main reason i liked the butter 08 album, too.

preternatural concepts concerning variances in sound and texture (contenderizer), Thursday, 12 April 2012 04:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

he is the human breakbeat

I accidentally sonned your dome (stevie), Thursday, 12 April 2012 07:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

There's a great moment in the Wail video where he casually eats a hamburger while drumming. Also, check this out:

B-Boy Bualadh Bos (ecuador_with_a_c), Sunday, 15 April 2012 11:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

^^^^ that song has been my go-to russell simins jam for forever

I accidentally sonned your dome (stevie), Sunday, 15 April 2012 16:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

russell intimidated the crap out of me the first time i interviewed him. first he told me he had the same shitty digital watch as me, only on his one the background lit up, not the numbers, and therefore it was better. then he noticed my X-Large denim jacket and told me he had a wardrobe full of X-Large stuff. then he drilled me as to my opinion of ten or so of his current favourite albums, and gave me withering glares when i said i hadn't heard a couple of them. i forgive him everything, though, as he's one of the most exciting drummers i've ever heard.

I accidentally sonned your dome (stevie), Sunday, 15 April 2012 16:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

Loved this band and was friendly with them back in the day but - yeah - RS always had the rep for being a jerk. Too bad cuz he killed on his little kit.

Lawanda Pageboy (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 15 April 2012 19:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

Single from Simins' quarter-great solo album:

┗|∵|┓ (sic), Sunday, 15 April 2012 23:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

huh. having recently revisited Extra Width, Orange, and Now I Got Worry I gotta say they're peak period stuff really holds up

stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 13 September 2012 19:40 (8 months ago) Permalink

^^^this. there are also a lot of gems on the Crypt Style/Reverse Willie Horton stuff now collected on "Year One." has anything worthwhile come out from this band after ACME?

fadanuf4erybody, Thursday, 13 September 2012 22:49 (8 months ago) Permalink

ugh ACME, definite shark-jumping moment

stop swearing and start windmilling (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 13 September 2012 22:50 (8 months ago) Permalink

Can one jump a shark if the shark jumping moment is actually good, as well as the two albums that followed it?

Johnny Fever, Thursday, 13 September 2012 22:51 (8 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

The new one's not bad, but by no means up to the band's 90s peak.

HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 13 December 2012 22:51 (5 months ago) Permalink

weird coincidence, was having lunch in the pizza shop today and they were playing orange and it kicked my ass so hard

the late great, Thursday, 13 December 2012 22:52 (5 months ago) Permalink

To this day, all I have to do is shout "bellbottoms!" and my wife responds with a loud grunt.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 14 December 2012 00:39 (5 months ago) Permalink

weirdly, for some reason all week at various points i've been like "i should listen to orange," having not even thought about it in a couple years, but then i keep forgetting to actually dig it out. so i think i will do that now. i also don't think i want to go forward or backward into the jsbx discography after i'm done listening to it.

back in judy's tenuta (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Friday, 14 December 2012 00:43 (5 months ago) Permalink

I played "Afro" last time I DJ'd at a bar. Sounded good. Extra Width and Orange are the only ones I fuck with.

dmr, Friday, 14 December 2012 17:19 (5 months ago) Permalink

I was buried in the battlefield...

citation needed (Steve Shasta), Friday, 14 December 2012 18:24 (5 months ago) Permalink

xpost - Now I Got Worry is up there with those two, imo.

WilliamC, Friday, 14 December 2012 18:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

xp I heard megabombs, firearms and war alarms

Has the GZA ever remixed anything else? Because that track's kind of amazing.

flared bass (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 15 December 2012 04:54 (5 months ago) Permalink

i got mo'width and experimental remixes but apparently i sold orange? dumb.

the late great, Saturday, 15 December 2012 05:18 (5 months ago) Permalink

man orange rules.

i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Sunday, 16 December 2012 20:58 (5 months ago) Permalink

Ju ju ju GOT TO HEP ME

Raymond Cummings, Sunday, 16 December 2012 21:04 (5 months ago) Permalink

This is my favorite thing JSBX ever played on imho frr:

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Sunday, 16 December 2012 21:10 (5 months ago) Permalink

BABY BABY BABY YOU SURE LIKE TO FUCK

reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 16 December 2012 22:05 (5 months ago) Permalink


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