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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – TheStoolPigeon.co.uk: Tour Diary: Jon Spencer (April 2005) (PRESS, UK)
TEXT |
2012.05.24 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Rock & Folk: Sur La Route Avec Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN |
2012.05.00 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Ruta 66: El Regreso de JSBX (PRESS, SPAIN)
SCAN: Spanish-language interview (8 Pages). |
2012.03.00 |
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RollingStone.com: Jon Spencer Reconnects With Aggression in New Blues Explosion… (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “It seems a bit like we’ve gotten back to some of the aggression, the confrontational nature of the earlier material. It’s not as crazy as the stuff we did in the first two or three years, but there seems to be a little flavor of that.” |
2011.10.10 |
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Rock & Folk: Wonder Ballroom [LIVE REVIEW] (PRESS, FRANCE)
IMAGE |
2011.00.00 |
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Timeout.jp: Summer Sonic 2011: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Interview (PRESS, JAPAN)
TEXT: “No; you know we didn’t have a plan. We’ve never been much on planning with this band.” |
2011.08.09 |
 |
Simon Reynolds – Bring The Noise: Irving Plaza [REVIEW] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
2011.05.24 |
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BeatRoute.ca: Music – Roots; Jon Spencer of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, CANADA)
TEXT: Short article / interview |
2011.00.00 |
|
G1.com: ‘Devoto do rock’, Jon Spencer traz de volta ‘explosão de blues’ ao Brasil (PRESS, BRASIL)
TEXT: “O rock and roll mudou o mundo. Isso já é uma coisa bem séria. Mas, se voltarmos mais uma vez a Little Richard e Elvis Presley, havia muita descontração no que faziam, era uma verdadeira alegria.” |
2011.07.27 |
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HoustonPress.com: Last Night: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at Warehouse Live (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “…drummer Russell Simins, and second guitarist Judah Bauer look no worse for wear 20 years since their debut. Spencer managed to jump and jive in his silver jeans. “ |
2011.05.06 |
|
OnlineAthens.com: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is Back (PRESS, US)
TEXT: Spencer said he also plans to rerelease albums by his first band, noise-rockers Pussy Galore, next year, though not their infamously sloppy remake of Rolling Stones classic “Exile on Main Street.” |
2011.04.28 |
|
Flagpole.com: Embrace Your Wild Side (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Just listening to the band is an education in the underbelly of rock, with Spencer’s exaggerated bluesman growl covering brash, slutty guitars and rhythms coupled with an intense, flashy showmanship that alternately suggests a worship service and an anonymous dive bar hook-up.” |
2011.04.27 |
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Crawdaddy.com: “Jon Spencer: Before and Beyond The Blues Explosion” [INTERVIEW] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “While his brawny onstage persona certainly precedes him, Jon Spencer is, perhaps not surprisingly, a humble, organic dude with all the right artistic intentions.” |
2011.04.09 |
|
PopMatters.com: “True Rock n Roll is Something That’s Very Crazy” [INTERVIEW] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Yet even as the Blues Explosion’s recorded output became more experimental and genre-bending, its live show remained a sweaty, physical, early rock piece of theater.” |
2011.02.08 |
|
FasterLouder.com.au: Rosemount Hotel [REVIEW] (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT: “JSBX played a very lucid set, one hit after another blending together like a smoothie. It was filthy and delectable with profanities flying in every direction till the meaning was lost.” |
2011.01.18 |
|
TheAUReview.com.au: Esplanade Hotel [REVIEW] (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT: “I respected JSBX before this gig, but my initial respect trebled during the night, and by the end of the gig I realised that I had witnessed one of the best shows I’ve seen, performed by three humble guys who have more talent than most of us could ever hope for.” |
2011.01.16 |
|
W-Fenec.org: Orange [REVIEW] (PRESS, FRANCE)
TEXT: Short French-language review |
2011.01.00 |
 |
XpressMag.com.au: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Still Number One (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT |
2011.01.13 |
 |
Drum Media Perth: Gig of the Week (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
SCAN |
2011.01.13 |
 |
TimeOutSydney.com.au: (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT: Short interview with Jon Spencer |
2011.01.12 |
 |
Inpress: Mo’ Better Blues (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
SCAN: Jon Spencer interivew (almost identical to The Drum Media Sydney interview) |
2011.01.12 |
 |
Drum Media Sydney: Talk About The Blues (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
SCAN: Jon Spencer interivew (almost identical to Inpress interview) |
2011.01.11 |
|
FasterLouder.com.au: Jon Spencer – Interview (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT: Extensive interview with Jon Spencer |
2011.01.12 |
 |
New Noise: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN: 2-page JSBX article (although not quite big enough to read the text) |
2011.01.00 |
 |
Magic RPM: Le Dernier Mot 98 (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN: ‘Article’ is just one photo |
2011.01.00 |
 |
Under The Radar: Interview (PRESS, NEW ZEALAND)
TEXT: “We’re working on new material and after Australia we have more tours planned so I think we will continue to work through 2011 but it remains to be seen to what level of intensity but there will definitely be some more stuff going on.” |
2010.12.22 |
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RaveMagazine.com.au: Inteview (PRESS, AUSTRALIA)
TEXT: “I guess I was a bit angry,” Spencer laughs.“ |
2010.12.21 |
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Bizarre Magazine: Review / Inteview (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: One page article features review and Q&A with Jon Spencer |
2010.12.21 |
 |
The Independent: Heaven, London (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Spencer spat plosives into the microphone with panache – so that while the words were often unintelligible, his attitude and charisma kept his audience with him.” |
2010.12.08 |
|
CheeseOnToast.co.nz: Jon Spencer [Interview] (PRESS, NEW ZEALAND)
TEXT: “There’s never been a blueprint or plan that was openly acknowleged or discussed.” |
2010.12.06 |
 |
Financial Times: Heaven, London (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Spencer threw shapes and delivered rapid-fire vocals; songs such as “Bellbottoms” and “Blues X Man” shimmied by with stop-start rhythms and sudden detonations of guitars and drums.” |
2010.12.04 |
 |
LiveXS.nl: Nog Altijd Retestrak in Tivoli (PRESS, HOLLAND)
TEXT: Dutch-language live review |
2010.12.03 |
 |
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Les Inrockuptibles: Reissues [REVIEW] (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN: French language review of Shove! reissues |
2010.12.00 |
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Uncut: Extra Width [2010] [REVIEW] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “.Bassless, earnest, witty and fierce, the Blues Explosion mashed blues, rock, soul and punk on this 1993 breakthrough.” |
2010.11.28
(Jan 2011) |
 |
Uncut: Ch-Ch-Changes (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Two-page article with a series of photographs with commentary from Jon Spencer |
2010.11.28
(Jan 2011) |
 |
Mojo: The Big Bang:Extra Width / Orange / Now I Got Worry [REVIEW] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “…reclaiming the blues a decade before The White Stripes – still got the flavour”. |
2010.11.24
(Jan 2011) |
 |
Uncut: The Uncut Playlist (PRESS, UK)
Uncut playlist with Extra Width at number 10. |
2010.10.28
(Dec 2010) |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Yeah One / Extra Width/Mo’Width [Deluxe] [Review] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Even with all the smart, well-placed studio embellishments here, this feels like an excerpted version of a long, on-fire jam session. Spencer and Bauer pile on layer after layer of stomp-riff, while Russell Simins’ drumming is a natural wonder: an absurdly funky push-pull with some of the thundercrack heaviness of John Bonham.” |
2010.10.26 |
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NME: Matador at 21: The Lost Weekend (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Review of Matador show with a very brief menion of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion |
2010.10.16 |
 |
LasVegasWeekly.com: Q&A: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Jon Spencer (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “I think I’ve been to Las Vegas at least once or twice since with Heavy Trash. And Blues Explosion played Las Vegas at least once, maybe twice before that. And I’d played in Las Vegas also with the Gibson Bros. and probably with Boss Hog and maybe even with Pussy Galore. I’m not 100 percent sure” |
2010.09.30 |
 |
GetBack.com: Bandwidth: Jon Spencer Talks Nirvana, ‘Black Music,’ and Why He’s Not Bruce Springsteen (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “We’ve been playing concerts, touring and playing live because these records are coming out again. It’s been very, very enjoyable. We have been talking about the possibility of something new.” |
2010.08.19 |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Yeah One / Extra Width/Mo’Width [Deluxe] [Review] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “If the Blues Explosion thrives on viscera and hyperbole, Extra Width may be the most visceral and hyperbolic they’ve ever sounded. It is, in other words, quintessential JSBX.” |
2010.08.23 |
 |
WashingtonPost.com: Nick Cave, Beck, Underworld: Six Memorable Shows at The New 9:30 Club / Be Specific: Blues Explosion’s Jon Spencer on Getting The Band… (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Every time you saw the trio – Spencer, fellow guitarist Judah Bauer and powerhouse drummer Russell Simins – you were guaranteed a show. “ |
2010.08.18
/
2010.04.00 |
 |
NYtimes.com: The Insider | Jon Spencer (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “After a six-year hiatus, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion — the stripped-down blues-rock outfit that put sweat on the brow of the Lower East Side in the ’90s — is back in its leather-panted garage-stomp glory” |
2010.08.10 |
 |
AltSounds.com: John Spencer Blues Explosion – Dirty Shirt Rock ‘n’ Roll : The First Ten Years (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Even people who weren’t that familiar with JSBE (like me) had to be at least a little bit impressed with Jon’s set. The guy is a wild man on stage and an even wilder man on the guitar.” |
2010.07.22 |
 |
YouAintNoPicasso.com: Pitchfork Music Festival [Review] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Even people who weren’t that familiar with JSBE (like me) had to be at least a little bit impressed with Jon’s set. The guy is a wild man on stage and an even wilder man on the guitar.” |
2010.07.20 |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Pitchfork Music Festival – Jon Spencer Interview (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “I figured people are paying a lot of money. I know if I had to be standing out in the sun I’d wanna see somebody dressed up and trying hard, too. So I’m just trying to do my job.” |
2010.07.19 |
 |
IRockCleveland.com: Pitchfork Music Festival (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Twenty years on from their birth in NYC, the Blues Explosion is still a band that looks, lives, and sweats the blues. Spencer looked stylish in his tight vinyl pants, shiny shirt and black vest.” |
2010.07.18 |
 |
TheMusicSlut.com: Pop Tarts for TMS: 2010 Pitchfork Fest (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “More bands should take note and learn from Jon Spencer. You don’t need to be excessively flashy or rely on any sort of tricks, you just need to go out there with great tunes and play them as if it’s going to be the last time you’ll ever play them..” |
2010.07.18 |
 |
TimeOutNY.com: Pitckfork Music Festival 2010: Live Review (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “If ’90s act reunions are to continue, Spencer’s trio has set the bar ridiculously high.” |
2010.07.18 |
 |
NME: Does Rock’n’Roll Kill Braincells? (PRESS, UK)
Full page article / Jon Spencer answers 10 questions about his career. |
2010.06.12 |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Now I Got Worry / Controversial Negro [REVIEWS] (PRESS, US)
“But what’s most remarkable about Now I Got Worry is that the Blues Explosion’s grimiest record was also their most sonically ambitious.” |
2010.05.21 |
 |
MagnetMagazine.com: Q&A with The Blues Explosions Jon Spencer (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “I’d heard that Rufus Thomas had done a guest vocal with another young indie band. So I mentioned this to Robert Gordon and asked whether he’d come in and do something with the Blues Explosion” |
2010.05.17 |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Dirty Shirt Rock ‘n’ Roll: The First Ten Years (PRESS, US)
“In the 1990s, however, when Spencer was a contemporary of Steve Malkmus, Robert Pollard, and Mac MacCaughan, this music sounded so far removed from any particular scene that the band could be easily dismissed as an anomaly.” |
2010.03.24 |
 |
Michael Lavine / Thurston Moore – Grunge (BOOK, UK)
IMAGES |
2009.09.02 |
![1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2008] (BOOK, UK)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/2067x.jpg) |
1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2008] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Few albums open in such a contfontational manner” |
2008.10.15 |
 |
Mojo: Jukebox Explosion Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “While the blues is the dominant element of Jon Spencer’s famed Explosion, traces of punk, funk, hip hop and garage rock also pepper their mushroom cloud of riffs and backbeat.” |
2007.10.00 |
 |
Pitchfork.com: Jukebox Explosion Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers (PRESS, US)
FULL TEXT: “The In the Red issues are the most righteously contentious: rancorous spurts like “Shirt Jac” and “Bent” are mainline fury, though the sluttish horn on “Son of Sam” and barroom piano on “Get With It” point towards the well-worn dynamics the band would quietly accumulate.” |
2007.10.30 |
 |
NME: Jukebox Explosion Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers [45 Words] (PRESS, UK)
FULL TEXT: “The Blues Explosion have spent the past 16 years blazing their own trail through old-school rhythm and booze. This is punk rock as God intended it: shouty, bloody loud and sounding like it was recorded live in a seedy back street bar full of narcotics. 8/10” |
2007.10.27 |
 |
Simon Reynolds: Bring The Noise (PRESS, UK)
COVER ONLY: Collection of writing by Simon Reynolds features a live review of JSBX |
2007.05.03 |
 |
The A to X of Alternative Music (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “The return of the New York garage-punk scene in 2001, especially with the White Stipes, themselves influenced by Spencer’s various bands, has completed the cycle” |
2006.06.30 |
 |
MOJO: The DFA Remixes Chapter One [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Short review of the DFA remix album. |
2006.04.00 |
![1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2005] (BOOK, UK)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/2065x.jpg) |
1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2005] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Few albums open in such a contfontational manner” |
2005.10.05 |
 |
Don’t Look Back (PRESS, UK)
Booklet for the Don’t Look Back shows featuring a page on the performance of Orange by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. |
2005.09.21 |
 |
NME: Crunchy [REVIEW] [78 Words] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “”Sock it to me!” yaps Jon Spencer in this ludicrously libidinous exercise in good-time bar-room boogie, stuffed to the gills with Hammond organs and honky-tonk joannas and packing the kind of irresistible groove”” |
2005.04.23 |
 |
British Hit Singles & Albums (PRESS, UK)
SCAN/TEXT: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion chart entries |
2005-1997 |
|
FasterLouder.com.au: Russell Simins Talks Touring, Tinkering & Tex (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “So who is the real Blues Explosion, the artful studio savants that have fused hip hop scratches and the sound of a funky drummer with bleeding guitar noise? Or the sneering, four on the floor stage animals that come on going 100 and leave at 110?” |
2004.12.22 |
 |
Benjamin Nugent – Elliott Smith and the Ballad of Big Nothing (PRESS, US)
COVER ONLY: Book on Elliott Smith featuring a few mentions of the Blues Explosion (and a good Simins/Simmons error). |
2004.10.14 |
 |
Mojo: Damage [REVIEW] [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “Damage! also retains Blues Explosion’s trademark sweat-drenched feel for soul, proving neither identity is a total schtick” |
2004.10.00 |
 |
93 Feet East [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “It must rankle a little. Jon Spencer has been wrangling with his brand of the blues – extrovert, down-and-dirt, pinched by punk and acknowledging a debt to Little Richard and Carl perkins as much as Hasil Adkins and Son House – for around 14 years now.” |
2004.08.00 |
 |
Spin: My Life in Music: Cat Power / Six Most Excellent Rock Star Bar Mitzvahs (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
2004.05.00 |
 |
X-Ray: Label of Love (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Article about Matador Records mentions Extra Width by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. |
2003.12.00 |
 |
N.Y.C. Rock (BOOK, UK)
“Originally hailing from Washington, DC, and relocating to New York in the 1980s, Pussy Galore was a no-wave-influenced outfit that for five years terrified club audiences with a noise-rock assault that took no prisoners.” |
2003.01.31 |
 |
NME: Burn It! (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Selection of tracks chosen by the Blues Explosion” |
2003/2002 |
 |
Indyrock.es: Mercat de las Flors, Barcelona / Riviera, Madrid (PRESS, SPAIN)
Spanish language review |
2002.11.09 |
 |
Chip Kidd & Jon Spencer – The Genesis of the Plastic Fang [SCAN] (PRESS, US)
SCAN: Comic / Interview |
2002.10.00 |
 |
Guitar Player: Cover/Feature (MAGAZINE, US)
SCAN: FULL ARTICLE |
2002.06.00 |
 |
Rocksound: Apple De La Jungle (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN |
2002.05.00 |
 |
Rocksound: Plastic Fang [REVIEW] (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN |
2002.04.00 |
 |
Record Collector: Plastic Fang [Review] [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN |
2002.04.00 |
 |
Intro: Interview [1500 Words] (PRESS, GERMANY)
TEXT: Interview in German. |
2002.04.00 |
 |
Live XS: Cover / Article (PRESS, NETHERLANDS)
PRESS: Large scan of Dutch language article. |
2002.04.00 |
 |
NME: She Said Review [SCAN] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Short review of She Said. |
2002.03.23 |
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Billboard: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Rocking ‘Fang’ On Matador [SCAN] (PRESS, US)
SCAN: “But it’s all done to get a band playing live, a live rock ‘n’ roll performance” |
2002.03.09 |
 |
NME: Fuji LA’s (Summer Sonic review) [50 Words] (PRESS, UK)
Very brief mention of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. |
2000.08.20 |
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NME: The Seditionary Position [80 Words] (PRESS, UK)
“Self-reference is the way of the walk with Jon Spencer. Perhaps now erring on the side of pantomime – too much silver-suit, too little rock – the Blues Explosion testify to their own inspiration (themselves), and indeed their own perspiration.” |
2000.08.12 |
 |
Record Collector: Article/Discography [5000 Words] (PRESS, UK)
EXTENSIVE ARTICLE (TEXT) “I think people get confused by the word ‘blues’ in the name of the band. I intended the name to be something flippant or crude – a crazy name for a band y’know, and like I said, some people get tripped up by the word blues, and others get confused by the different influences in the music. The old music particularly, like blues, rockabilly, country, rhythm and blues or soul music. Everybody in the Blues Explosion listens to a lot of music. That comes through in what we write.” |
2000.04.00 |
 |
Best: L’Authentique Artucuer… (PRESS, FRANCE)
SCAN |
1999.11.00 |
![Seven Years Of Plenty [Red] (BOOK, UK)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/1579x.jpg) |
Mojo: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [850 Words] (PRESS, UK)
FULL TEXT: “”We have to keep stressing that!” he explains. “Our records are all about the three of us – we love music, all different kinds of music, and when we get together to play, that stuff seeps through. The only element we really take from the blues is that we play from what we know, from where we’re coming from; it’s real, it’s not pretence.” |
1999.11.00 |
![Seven Years Of Plenty [Red] [1650 Words] (BOOK, UK)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/777x.jpg) |
Seven Years Of Plenty [Red] (BOOK, UK)
CHAPTER ON JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION (TEXT): “Step forward Jon Spencer, the most unlikely candidate for a Nobel peace price since Henry Kissinger. Spencer’s rejection of the destructive impulses that were the very lifeblood of his legendary New York guitar hate-posse Pussy Galore in favour of an evangelical new traditionalism is dealt with at greater length later.” |
1999.10.31 |
 |
Select: Acme-Plus [Review] [200 Words] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “As was revealed in Select’s recent feature on B-sides (July) those with relentless quality control end up victims of their own success. Bonus tracks for singles can turn out as minor classics and victims of the timeless pub observation, “should have been on the album”.” |
1999.10.00 |
 |
CMJ: Sideways Soul (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1999.10.04 |
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NME: Acme-Plus [Review] [320 Words] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Like being smashed repeatedly about the head with a drumstick, the Blues Explosion method is not subtle and after some time it starts to hurt. While most of the world is still recovering from last year’s belligerent ‘Acme‘ opus…” |
1999.09.11 |
 |
NME: Reading Festival [Review] [34 Words] (PRESS, UK)
FULL TEXT: “2115 Blues Explosion! Blues Explosion! Blues Explosion! It’s The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion! Er, let’s do that again. And again… For 45 minutes. The same song, over and over. It must get boring for them.” |
1999.09.04 |
 |
Xtra Acme USA [Press Release] [620 Words] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “XTRA ACME USA consists of outtakes and remixes from the most recent BLUES EXPLOSION studio album, Acme. This set of stripped-down funk, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll is more diverse than the tracks chosen for the album, with more excursions into scratches, beats and samples, and featuring a wide array of sidemen and producers.” |
1999.09.00 |
 |
Magnet: Acme Releases [280 Words] (PRESS, US)
ARTICLE TEXT: “Jon Spencer Blues Explosion really takes its collector fans seriously…” |
1999.08.00 |
 |
NME: Bowlie Weekender [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “The hot rock has arrived. Despite the intensive drugs/alcohol/clean pjamas/pure evil door searches, true malevolence has slipped into this paradise, and it’s name is The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. “ |
1999.05.01 |
 |
Snoozer: Cover / Photos / Postcard (MAGAZINE, JAPAN)
SCAN: COVER / PHOTOS |
1999.04.00 |
 |
The Drum Media: Cover/Feature (PRESS, AUS)
COVER/ARTICLE TEXT: “To Spencer’s mind the best music has always governed by instinct, mad grace and honesty to the point of crudity it necessary. Give him Bo Diddley in his Black Gladiator guise, the spirit woven through the Crypt label’s Sin Alley or Desperate Rock n’ Roll series of filthy arsed garage R and B or Iggy Pop with those flame jewel eyes in the Stooges’ Funhouse era.” |
1999.03.30 |
 |
NME: Talk About The Blues [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “The tale of this is as follows. Jon Spencer talks about the blues In fact, he talks about it a hell of a lot. Primarily to journalists, y’know Rolling Stone…” |
1999.03.06 |
 |
Guitar Player: Ear Candy (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Spencer’s lo-fi sound begins with a no-name Japanese solid-body his wife picked up a few years ago for $17, and a 100-watt Sunn 2×12 combo. While recording one of the album tracks with producer Steve Albini, however, Spencer fell in with the scruffy glory of a custom CMI 2×10 combo.” |
1999.02.00 |
 |
Player Magazine (PRESS, ??)
IMAGE |
1999/1998 |
 |
NME: Albums of The Year 1998 (PRESS, UK)
COMPLETE TEXT: “43, ACME – Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Mute). In which New York’s coolest export finally unearthed the real blues that he always aspired to. Snake-hipped and curled of lip, “Acme” brought a genre up to date by lavishing it with garage roughness and some touching melodies. Raw like sirloin and equally as juicy. Welcome them back…” |
1998.12.19 |
 |
NME: On The Couch (PRESS, UK)
“What song describes you best?
“I don’t know who it’s by, but there’s this song and its refrain goes, “Crazy mixed-up kid”. If it came out at all it was probably in the ’50s. It’s a blues song. And also the theme from Star Trek. But not that new one.” |
1998.12.05 |
 |
Spin: Dial ‘D’ For Drum Machine [700 Word Article] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Doing a record in this manner is ordinarily something I’d have no interest in, but I have a lot of respect for the way the Blues Explosion do things. My fundamental perspective is that if something sounds good and is representative of what the band is about, you need a pretty compelling reason to fuck around with it. Records I’ve recorded have been remixed by others, and the results are always unflattering.” |
1998.12.00 |
 |
CMJ New Music Monthly: Acme Blues Explosives, INC [1130 Words] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “The group recorded slowly, trying to involve lots of different people, to recapture the diverse feel of the Experimental Remixes EP that followed Orange. The trio recorded the basic tracks with Steve Albini (and a couple with Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic), figuring Albini’s minimalist style would capture strong songs no remixer could completely ruin. “ |
1998.12.00 |
 |
NME: Shepherds Bush Empire – Live Review (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Judah Bauer is on top of a speaker, trailing a riff as rude and sinuous as a torn-cat. Russell Simins is stooped like a deranged hunchback, battering out his pithy three-drum tattoo. Jon Spencer, meanwhile is running up and down the stage with his arms in the air, yelling, “YEEEEAAUH!”…” |
1998.12.12 |
 |
Select: Acme [Review] / Russell Simins – Have You Ever (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “As a result, ‘Acme’ is the most current-sounding album you’re likely to hear from this lot. While staying to true to JSBX‘s righteous heritage in rock’n’roll and (lest we forget) the blues, it’s also their most funky, with Spencer and Judah Bauer’s twin-guitar methodology re-routed from their punk-inspired past to something more danceable.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Vice: I Cannot Play The Blues: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Fireball… [1000 Words] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “…the gigantic ball of fire screamed its way south, directly over my head. It turned out to be a meteor; it landed close to Buffalo, or maybe in Buffalo, or on Buffalo. At any rate, I was shocked.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Rolling Stone: Random Notes/Track x Track (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Bernie’s a friend from the scene, man. He follows us from show to show, flying all over the country. He’s a powerful executive at IBM or 3M or something – big, strong-looking guy and a real music fan.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Paper: Acme Review (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “On Automator-helmed tracks such as “Talk About The Blues” and “Attack,” both the vocals and the guitars are processed like samples and served up as aural garnishes to a pungent groove.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Interview/Maxim/Madamoiselle: Acme Review (PRESS, US)
TEXT: Three short reviews of Acme. |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Detour: Blues Travellers (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “This is rock-and-roll. here’s elements from the blues, and from country, and rap, but the spirit is from rock-and-roll. I’m talking about early rock-and-roll-like Little Richard and Elvis. It comes from the idea that music should be truly shocking. That spirit, that energy of music, is what influences us.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Alternative Press [500 Word Acme Review/Interview] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Alec Empire and [the Automator] Dan Nakamura worked together on the song “Attack.” Judah and Russell described it as a real battle. They were doing things simultaneously, and the volume was ear-splitting and neither of them would pause to five the other a chance to check out what the other had done.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
Alternative Press: Building A Better Explosion [500 Word Article] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “For Acme, Spencer – who’s been producing his bands’ music since the days of Pussy Galore – wanted to open up the recording process to see how giving others free reign would affect his songs.” |
1998.11.00 |
 |
NME: Winona Stars in Blues Explosion Vid [NEWS] (PRESS, UK)
“I think that people are really going to be surprised when they see the acting on the part of the Blues Exploison. When people get a load of some of the heavy, dramatic, really very intense scenes that we pulled out from our souls, I think people are really going to be blown away.” |
1998.10.24 |
 |
NME: Acme [Review] / Blast Rites [2000 Words] (PRESS, UK)
Acme: The party up there in the Chicago studios was clearly a good one – if you like rock’n’roll charades, that is. Albini has recorded it in appropriately bone-raw style…”/Blast Rites: “We need to put on a show. I’d be fucking bored, man, it’s boring just standing there – doo de doo de doo – we like to put on a show! I think we all like showmen, like music that really gets across…” |
1998.10.17 |
 |
Acme [Press Release] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Acme was recorded and mixed by a multi-hued assortment of characters at six different studios throughout the early part of 1998, and boasts legendary rapper/rocker Andre Williams as executive producer. The sheer variety of participants shoehorned into its freaky grooves is mindboggling.” |
1998.10.00 |
 |
Select: Sideways Soul / Bust Feature (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “At least Jon Spencer, whose ‘Blues Explosion Attack’ is a rocking call to arms, mucks around in style. Which is what Selector Dub Narcotic is all about.” |
1998.08.00 |
 |
NME: London Kings Cross Water Rats [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “It’s not – thank the Lord – that they’re a joke band, although the jokes they have are just fine: Spencer ricocheting backwards like his guitar has just made a grab for his groin, the ungainly Theremin squalls, the bourbon-flavoured adrenalin hit of ‘Afro‘, the splendidly stupid ‘Sweat’ with nothing in its head but some cool 45s and a bottle of beer.” |
1998.07.25 |
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Rolling Stone [800 Word Interview] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “I didn’t play guitar until college. My first guitar – I think I traded something for it. I don’t remember what, but I got it off a friend of mine in college, freshman or sophomore year. I had a banjo when I was growing up.” |
1998.05.28 |
![Seven Years Of Plenty [White] (BOOK, UK)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/778x.jpg) |
Seven Years Of Plenty [White] (BOOK, UK)
CHAPTER ON JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION (TEXT): “Step forward Jon Spencer, the most unlikely candidate for a Nobel peace price since Henry Kissinger. Spencer’s rejection of the destructive impulses that were the very lifeblood of his legendary New York guitar hate-posse Pussy Galore in favour of an evangelical new traditionalism is dealt with at greater length later.” |
1998.00.00 |
 |
Vox: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [Review] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN |
1997.09.00 |
 |
NME: Mean Fiddler [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Tonight, however, the pleasure is in the immediacy of the moment. It’s in the manic energy, in the feverish enthusiasm, in the provocative, pulsating rhythm. Right now there is no choice other than to succumb and, rather embarrassingly, start shouting, ‘Yayuh!’. Because Jon Spencer, baybuh, he feels sooooo good. And by now, so does everybody else.” |
1997.09.06 |
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NME: Reading Festival [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “tha’ bahloooozily bedevilled threesome JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION churn out the kind of commited show reminiscent of say, Beck at Glastonbury. Big shouting. Big guitar. Very Big balls.” |
1997.08.30 |
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Melody Maker: Reading Festival [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “…as Jon shrieks: “I’m a man” while actually looking for far more like a monkey, it strikes me that The Blues Explosion are basically just Reef with badly tuned guitars.” |
1997.08.30 |
 |
Rock De Lux: Bikini, Barcelona [Review] (PRESS, SPAIN)
SCAN: Spanish language review |
1997.06.00 |
 |
NME: Tibetan Freedom Concert [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Spencer’s full-moon yowl and his band’s feedback’n’corn liquor shtick can sound impressive, even faintly dangerous, in a more enclosed space.” |
1997.06.21 |
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Select: In The Bus Lane (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Questionnaire about the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tour bus. |
1997.06.00 |
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Vox: Wail [Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “I like, though. It’s got a lot of energy, but I’d still rather play an Elvis original. You can’t beat the real thing, can you, eh? I should know, I’m in a three-man Beatles tribute band.” |
1997.06.00 |
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Vox: Mo’ Bitter Blues [2000 Words] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “We can’t get the Blues Explosion onto commercial radio in the US. We’re okay with college radio and we tour all over to sold-out houses, but commercial radio are simply not ready for us.” / “It’s not really a deep kind of music, it’s the lowest of the low, but we’re the best at it.” |
1997.05.00 |
 |
Melody Maker: The Sex-Philes (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Yeah, I feel special” deadpans Jon. “It’s great being in a band and it’s great that band is The Blues Explosion. People treat is like royalty and that’s what we are. We’re the kings of rock’n’roll.” |
1997.05.17 |
 |
Select: Wail [REVIEW] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: Very short review |
1997.05.00 |
 |
Melody Maker: Sex Marks The Spot (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “…an acre of New York attitude bordering on the bad-tempered, a fondness for tiny fitted shirts and the most outrageously libidinous, funky, f***ed-up take on the blues ever to have erupted out of two battered guitars and a drum kit.” |
1996.12.21 |
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Rock De Lux: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [ARTICLE] (PRESS SPAIN)
SCAN |
1996.12.00 |
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CMJ: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – What, Me Worry? (PRESS, US)
SCAN: ” “Spencer thinks the new album is a return to what the Blues Explosion is all about. “It’s definitely moore loose, and some of the sound of it is more rough and jagged” |
1996.12.00 |
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Details: Funky Big White Noise [2100 WORDS] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Growing up in the ’70s in Hanover, New Hampshire, Jon Spencer was a polite kid too scared to watch horror movies. ten years after that, he was a Brown dropout living in Washington, D.C., with his band, Pussy Galore watching trash movies and horror films all night long.” |
1996.12.00 |
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Noise From The Underground: A Secret History of Alternative Rock (PRESS, US)
COVER / IMAGE |
1996.11.20 |
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The Minnesota Daily: The Blues Explosion Channels The Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1996.11.08 |
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Weekly Twin Cities Reader: First Avenue Preview (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1996.11.06 |
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City Pages: First Avenue Preview (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1996.11.06 |
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Now I Got Worry (PRESS RELEASE, US)
SCAN |
1996.10.30 |
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Select: Now I Got Worry [Review…sort of] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “The blues are real – depressing like life. And I like the ‘exploison’ bit of the name,” he says of ‘Now I Got Worry’ by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Mute), a murky shrapnel-dart of primal hollering…” |
1996.10.00 |
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NME: Idol Fret [NIGW Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “Jon Spencer may well still be the hellzapoppin’ king of the Euro-festival live circuit, perspiring his way through two-hour sets of righteous blues redemption, but here, minus the glitz’n’guts presentation, these graveyard smashes sound not a little lost.” |
1996.09.28 |
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Billboard: Blues Explosion Ready To Blast Off: Matador Act’s Set To Benefit… (PRESS, US)
SCAN: “He’s one of the most aware artists we deal with, and as such, everything we do as far as promotion comes from Jon’s Vision” |
1996.09.14 |
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NME: Primordal ‘Ooze [550 Word Live Review] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: “At which point, Spencer loses the plot completely. Chucking his guitar to the floor, he paces the stage, kicks his mike stand into the crowd and attacks a hapless photographer. Then, turning to his Theremin, he flicks the switch, does his kung-fu posturing and jumps on the drumkit – all the time bellowing, “My father was Sister Ray.” |
1996.08.10 |
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City Paper: 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1996.01.31 |
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Details: Experimental Remixes [REVIEW] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1995.09.00 |
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Mojo: The Great Instruments (PRESS, UK)
SCAN |
1995.08.00 |
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Melody Maker: Irving Plaza [REVIEW] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1995.07.15 |
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Option: Orange [Review] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1995.03/04 |
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BB Gun: 9:30 Club [Live review] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “EVERY BAND, IN THE, ON THE PLANET SHOULD PACK IT IN!!! Starting w/openers Soul Coughing.” |
1995.00.00 |
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NME: Experimental Remixes [REVIEW] / Independent LPs (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “Weirdly, this is a remix album that’s actually better than the original. It’s more varied, it’s got more depth and Spencer should take it home and listen to it a lot before he plots his next move.” |
1995.06.03 |
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Melody Maker: Top 30 Independent Singles Chart (PRESS, UK)
CHART From 3rd June 1995 showing Experimental Remixes. |
1995.06.03 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Rolling Stone: Blues With a Fuse (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1995.01.26 |
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BAM: The Rise of the Anti-Virtuoso / LO-FI 101 [2400 WORDS] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “…Hound Dog would always say, ‘Don’t worry about it. So long as you do it with conviction.'” |
1995.01.13 |
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RUTA 66: Pussy Galore – Cronincas De Suiedad / Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Baad Vibrations!!!! (PRESS, SPAIN)
SCAN |
1994.12.00 |
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Spin: Rauncho Deluxe [1994] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1994.12.00 |
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Magnet: Full Grown [1994] (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1994.11.00 |
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Newsweek: Eric Clapton Isn’t God Anymore (PRESS, US)
SCAN |
1994.10.17 |
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Organ: John Spenser Blues Explosion – Orange [Review] (PRESS, UK)
SCAN: “”…it’s the greatest album of all time – there’s a full Stax style swing section – yeap, it’s even better than Beck (who’s last album is now demoted to second greatest album of all time).” |
1994.10.00 |
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Gravy: Cover/Interview (PRESS, UK)
COVER ONLY (although links to a scan of the article hosted online at the official Gravy Zine website) |
1994.09.00 |
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Thicker: Cover/Interview (PRESS, US)
INTERVIEW/ARTICLE (TEXT): “When the smoke from the break-up of Pussy Galore cleared to reveal Jon Spencer’s new project, the Blues Explosion, a lot of people didn’t quite know what to think. Blues? What could these city kids possibly know about blues? Well, after a couple of years on the live circuit, the Explosion have left many a believer in their wake.” |
1994.08.00 |
|
Convulsion: John Spencer Blues Explosion [1994] (PRESS, UK)
TEXT: But even calm and subdued the man exudes charisma. You can’t help but notice him as he walks into the room. Women swoon and men hate him, the bastard. Each question is contemplated, each answer carefully considered in a way that would make anyone believe, no matter how cynical, that every single word was important. |
1994.00.00 |
![Extra Width [PRESS RELEASE] (PRESS, US)](http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/images/2528x.jpg) |
Extra Width [PRESS RELEASE] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “While we do think there are a few other groups on Earth nearly this innovative, they all record for other labels, so fuck ’em.” |
1993.05.24 |
 |
Boston Rock: Futteer Mien Ego: A Shortish Overview of the Brilliant Cruddy Ball of the Ex-Pussy Galore Guy, Jon Spencer (PRESS, US)
SCAN: Spencer teamed up with one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen and a guitarist that can assay every noted from Spencer’s guitar, his voice, and a thememin (look it up) and throw a response back at it. |
1993.03.00 |
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Fiz [#5]: All Roads Lead To Spencer: A Historic Look At… [3400 Words] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Fiz: So, you’ve say that it was definitely worth it to search out the various version of the record? Jon: I mean, if you have to buy one, buy the Crypt record – it’s our record. I’ll tell you, the Caroline record has the horn section, and it’s the one that has the Theremin.” |
1993.03.00 |
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Alright #2: Live Reviews/Son of Sam (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “The Blues Explsoion is the greatest rock and roll band in the world right now. their drummer Russell hits his midget drum kit so hard that you would think it was his father. Judah Bauer is the perfect Mick Taylor Meets A Clean Neil Hagerty and what can I say about Jon that hasn’t been said a thousand times before?” |
1993.02.00 |
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Bad Vibe: Head Explosion Part II [2800 Word Feature] (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Spencer writhes about, possessed by Presley during the amazing “Vacuum of Loneliness” – his tortured soul dragged over shards o’ glass for all to see. The wailin’ theremin spits out sound and adds to the cathartic confusion. If this is real and not theatre, I’m disturbed…” |
1993.00.00 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Rolling Stone: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, US) TEXT: “He and second guitarist Judah Bauer trade off chunky, broken-down engine chords and rusty bent-note solos, but what makes it all work is the Blues Explosion’s rediscovery of something no noise rocker since Jimi Hendrix has bothered with: a backbeat.” |
1992.11.22 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Ben Is Dead: Crypt Style (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “This is HOT-ACTION-GOOD-TIME-SHIT!.” |
1992.10/11 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Puncture: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “Think how strange Big Brother & the Holding Company or Quicksilver Messenger Service probably sounded to blues purists in 1967 and you’ve got the idea. Twenty-five years later, the blues is more twisted than ever.” |
1992.10.00 |
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Flipside: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, US)
COMPLETE TEXT: ” “Explosion” CD Ex-PUSSY GALOREr with a jazz tinge to his abrasiveness. Yes, if you can imagine Elvis Presley and John Coltrane joining PUSSY GALORE then reality is really a one way street. Imgine sex with Cindy Brady wearing a Victor French mask and you’ll understand. Best cut is the echoey “Rachel”. – CAKE “ |
1992.09/10 |
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Reflex: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, US)
TEXT: “TJSBE hit the limelight with a powerful combination of unearthly, staccato tempi; primal, pounding rhythms, and crazy explosions of screaming, skidding guitars.” |
1992.09.01 |
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New Route: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (PRESS, US)
SCAN: ” To try to accentuate the “spastic, jumpy” elements, as Spencer says they added a horn section (including They Might Be Giants’ John Linnell) for the album, suggesting a seasoning of free jazz.” |
1992.08.00 |
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Spin: New Revolutions – Punk Rock Anthems (PRESS, US)
SCAN: |
1992.07.00 |
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