Jon Spencer
Photo: Dave Etheridge-Barnes/ Getty Images

On The Record: The Blues Are (Were?) Number One!

I'm tired of writing about Vampire Weekend, the Black Kids and Jay Reatard. I don't think I have another "sky is falling/ In Rainbows/ the music industry is a charred, deserted metropolis overrun with zombies" piece in me. This is primarily because I have spent roughly the entire month of October writing about only those two things, thanks to the CMJ Music Marathon and Radiohead's Rainbows strategy (also because I am afraid of zombies).

I've gone on and on about "blog buzz" and "hype." I've speculated about the future of major labels and the industry and all that jazz, ad infinitum. I've spoken to more "industry experts" and "spokespeople close to the band" than I care to think about. And frankly, I'm exhausted by it. This week, I wanna talk about something that couldn't possibly be further removed from all of that forward-thinking crap. I wanna talk about something awesome and insane and perhaps even a bit stupid — something that's not relevant in any capacity, just because I feel like I've earned it.

This week, I wanna talk about the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.

See, if you weren't aware, the Blues Explosion were, at one point, number one. This is something Jon Spencer made abundantly clear, whether it be live or on tracks like "Flavor" (from 1994's truly excellent Orange), in which he declared himself "the number-one blues singer in the country" (despite the fact that he sung more like an Elvis impersonator at this juncture) and then spent a solid minute rattling off all the places in which his band is "number one," a list that included the following cities: Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Detroit; Austin, Texas; Houston; Dallas; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Vancouver, British Columbia; New York; Kansas City, Missouri; Oklahoma City; and Jackson, Mississippi.

Of course, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are no longer number one. They might not even be the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion anymore, having dropped Spencer's name from the title for their last studio album, 2004's Damage. Spencer has since released two albums with Heavy Trash, his band with guitarist Matt Verta-Ray, and has appeared on several other artists' records. The Blues Explosion's Web site hasn't been updated since December 27, 2005. And their drummer — the indomitable Russell Simins — is now producing tracks for prepubescent rockers the Tiny Masters of Today.

This is probably just natural progression. Very few bands stay on top forever, particularly ones as polarizing and, well, somewhat hokey as the Blues Explosion. But they had a good run, starting with 1993's fiery and funky Extra Width, peaking with Orange, then tapering off with '96's Now I Got Worry, when they decided to try being an actual blues band. In fact, if you look at them during the Orange era, you could make the argument that they were the pre-eminent band in NYC, if not one of the coolest indie-rock acts in the world.

It's difficult to imagine today, but back in 1994, Orange was a very "now" record. There was the obsession with '70s funk and soul (the same territory the Beasties were mining with all things Grand Royal); the lo-fi production; the literally phoned-in guest appearance by Beck; the collaborations with graphic designer Mike Mills; the brief experiments with electronics; and the subsequent remix album (1995's Experimental Remixes), which featured contributions from Moby and the GZA. The album landed at #16 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll in 1994 ahead of Pearl Jam's Vitalogy and Nas' Illmatic. It very clearly represented the Blues Explosion's moment, the point at which they were at the height of their abilities, when they were at their most powerful, and when they seemed important and informed.

And here's where things get difficult for me. Because no matter how hard I try, I cannot experience Orange in a vacuum. Though it was released 13 years ago this week (there's the tie-in!), I listen to the album now and cannot help but think what the reaction would be if the Blues Explosion were some band like the Black Kids or Vampire Weekend. And then I realize that I probably have a problem.

It's not like the concept of "hype" didn't exist during the Blues Explosion's heyday — in 1991, Spin famously reviewed an advance cassette version of Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted nearly a year before the album hit stores, in an attempt to capitalize on the buzz the band was creating — it just wasn't as pervasive back then as it is today. There's no way it could be.

If anything, blogs have perfected the art of hype, so much so that we now get acts like the Black Kids (I know I keep singling them out, and I don't mean to ... they just keep popping into my head, which is probably more of a comment on the era we live in than anything else), who put four songs on their MySpace page in August, got some good buzz thanks to a Pitchfork podcast and a Zane Lowe BBC broadcast in September, and rode that to a string of sold-out CMJ shows and a deal with Almost Gold Records in October. This is not the way things are supposed to happen, except it is how it happens, over and over again, so much so that there's even a backlash now — more against the system than the band itself — one that was rather eloquently summed up/ forwarded by Idolator's Jess Harvell earlier this week.

The problem seems to be that we're propping up a whole host of bands too early, giving them their moment before they're even remotely ready for it. In my opinion, acts like the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah scuffled with album #2 because they were given too much, too soon. You've gotta release a Crypt Style before you can graduate to an Orange.

Then again, maybe the whole idea of Orange is becoming extinct right along with the band that made it. Bands don't have careers anymore ... their moment could actually be a MySpace-only EP, followed by a couple of packed showcase gigs at CMJ or South by Southwest and then the inevitable backlash that brings them tumbling down. The industry cannot continue to exist this way, yet, seemingly, it's where we're headed, so much so that even when I set out to write a column about the Blues Explosion, it always comes back to indefinable terms like "blog buzz" and "hype" and the pallor of the record business.

Oh, and by the way, the Blues Explosion aren't dead. On Tuesday, they released Jukebox Explosion, a collection of the delightfully raw 45s they started releasing way back in 1992 on In the Red Records. The cover of the album shows the reanimated corpses of the band tossing dirt into an open grave, which is packed with records by Hole, Sebadoh and Jane's Addiction (the sentiment contained is fairly clear: Spencer and company are survivors). The music contained within is blistering, raucous and raw. Most of the songs don't last longer than two minutes. And to the best of my knowledge, none of it has leaked to the Internet, which is also a pretty solid commentary on where we're at.

B-Sides: Other Stories I'm Following This Week

Paul Banks' revenge! Interpol bust up file-sharing site OiNK. Carlos D strokes Snidely Whiplash mustache, cackling demonically (see "Music File-Sharing Site OiNK Shut Down Following Criminal Investigation").

Lance Bass: Formerly closeted cosmonaut-in-training, ultimate team player (see "Lance Bass Says He Hid Sexuality For Fear Of Dooming 'NSYNC's Career").

Funny, I always pictured Kid Rock as more of a Huddle House kind of guy (see "Kid Rock Arrested For Assault After Waffle House Scuffle").

Questions? Concerns? Comments? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• CMJ '07: Who Have We Discovered This Year?

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Vampire Weekend

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Photo: Matador

SEATTLE — You could've called it the Big Apple West.

For a few hours Tuesday, Seattle was no longer the former capital of grunge, but home to all things hot, as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion — rejuvenated vets of the Lower East Side — plus Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Liars — New York's hipster vanguard — set up shop at the Showbox.

Rock showman Spencer ripped open the headlining set with an overcaffeinated "Bellbottoms," sucking the crowd in like a hot rod Hoover. Sporting a long and greasy 'do, he looked like a skinny Henry Rollins circa 1984. Drummer Russell Simins, meanwhile, was apropos for Sasquatch country with his 'fro gone wild.

During the horror flick single "She Said," from this year's return-to-form Plastic Fang, Spencer clawed the air werewolf-style, as second guitarist Judah Bauer tossed out solos fit for a Memphis barbecue.

Like any Blues Explosion outing, this show played like variations on a theme. Time and again the band laid down fatback beats, greasy solos and lecherous, boastful vocals. Simins switched up timing here and there, Bauer added spice to the solos, and Spencer veered from holler to growl — but overall the night rolled like an 80-minute hip-shaking trance, as one song slipped into the next.

Between tunes, Spencer served familiar banter: "Thankyouverymuchladiesandgentlemen," "Right about now I'd like to...," and the ever popular, "Throw your hands in the air! Throw your hands in the air! Throw your hands in the air — and kiss my ass!"

When the fire was starting to die out, the Explosion threw on the gasoline with "Mean Heart," also from Plastic Fang, with Bauer pulling out riffs with less speed and more soul.

Earlier, the raw-rock trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs — who've garnered reams of press with their five-cut self-titled debut EP — laid out a set that included plenty of unreleased songs.

In the brutal come-on "Cold Light," singer Karen O sounded like she would pummel a prospect into submission with lines like, "We could do it to each other/ Like a sister and a brother." Decked out in a pink scarf and Billy Idol glove, O saluted the audience and grabbed her crotch a la Michael Jackson.

Though "Bang" is the band's best known song and one the year's most notable kiss-offs ("As a f---, son, you suck"), the YYYs didn't use it to rally the crowd, instead throwing it out with a take-it-or-leave approach.

That's not to say they didn't have fun. O smiled self-effacingly when, after she had tossed water on the audience, someone returned the volley with a handful of ice cubes.

Artful noise-mongers the Liars opened the night with a show as danceable as it was dissonant. Clad head to foot in white like a demented Good Humor man, singer Angus Andrew voiced tones into his mic as if he were a zoned-out jazz sax man — minus the sax.

Throughout the set members abandoned their instruments. At one point, Pat Nature traded his bass to play a series of easily programmable notes on an effects box — all the while clutching the contraption and getting down like he was vying for a spot on "American Bandstand."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

The Beastie Boys
Photo: MTV

The Beastie Boys have announced another concert to help victims of September's terrorist attacks following word that their first benefit show has sold out.

The second New Yorkers Against Violence concert will take place October 29 at the Hammerstein Ballroom with Afrika Bambaataa, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mos Def, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and the Roots, according to the Beastie Boys' publicist. Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA, accompanied by DJ Mix Master Mike, will also perform.

Tickets go on sale Thursday (October 18), with proceeds benefiting September 11 funds established by the New York Women's Foundation and the New York Association for New Americans Inc.

The first show, set for October 28, will feature the Strokes, Cibo Matto and the B-52's along with the Beasties (see "Beastie Boys Strokes, B-52's To Play NYC Benefit"). Rival Schools, who were previously being considered for the second show, have since joined the lineup of the first.

For more information on and audience reaction to the attacks, including tips on how you can help, see "9.11.01: Moving Forward."

Share your thoughts on the attacks in Afghanistan in You Tell Us.

• Beastie Boys
• Mos Def
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Afrika Bambaataa
• The Roots

Thurston Moore performing at a benefit for Kosovo, 5/99
Photo: Dylan Stableford

Eddie Vedder, Stereolab, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks are among the acts scheduled to play the third incarnation of All Tomorrow's Parties, a U.K. festival that will hit these shores for the first time in October.

The lineup — which also includes '70s art-punks Television, alt-rock hipsters the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and airy-voiced songstress Cat Power — was chosen by festival curators Sonic Youth, who will also perform at the event, according to their publicist. All Tomorrow's Parties will be held October 19 and 20 at UCLA.

Other bands confirmed for the festival include indie-rockers Le Tigre, U.S. Maple and Neil Michael Hagerty; techno duo Autechre; solemn songcrafters Smog and Papa M; free-jazz guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist Cecil Taylor; Japanese noisemakers Merzbow and the Boredoms; and '70s deconstructionists Destroy All Monsters. More artists are expected to be added.

Screenings by such filmmakers as Jim O'Rourke of Gastr del Sol fame will also be part of the eclectic gathering, as will spoken-word performances, the publicist said.

All Tomorrow's Parties, named after a Velvet Underground song, debuted in England last April. Curated by Stereolab, the lineup featured Sonic Youth, Shellac, Mogwai and Plaid, among others.

The event's second coming occurred in April of this year, with a lineup assembled by Tortoise that included Yo La Tengo, the Sun Ra Arkestra, Calexico, Television, Broadcast and the Sea and Cake.

Festival organizers created a live album from April's festival, released only in the U.K., and they're planning on similarly documenting the U.S. version.

• Sonic Youth
• Stephen Malkmus
• Stereolab
• Pearl Jam
• Television

Jon Spencer and company have good reason to sing the blues after their equipment was stolen following the first gig on its current tour.

• 4 space rack case containing:
• ART Dual MP (mic preamp), serial #254-02193
• DBX 1066 (compressor), serial #CJ97FB-10054
• Empirical Labs EL-8 (compressor), serial #1744
• Furman PL-8 (power outlet/conditioner), serial #N8875, engraved with name and address

Calzone briefcase containing:
• Panasonic SV-255 (portable DAT machine), serial #8070096
• Stewart PM-2 (phantom power supply), serial #N/A

Blue 1 space case containing:
• DBX 166 (compressor), serial #911661871

Case containing:
• Ludwig 16" Floor Tom, black with gold flake, serial #N/A

Case containing:
• 1962 Vintage Moog Theremin, very rare, and particular to the JSBX

Calzone guitar amp case containing:
• Sunn Alpha 212 RB (2x12 combo amp), serial # A69502

SKB microphone case containing:
• 20 x Shure SM57's
• 2 x Shure SM91's
• 1 x Shure Beta 52
• 3 x Shure Beta 57a
• 2 x Shure SM-81LC
• 2 x Shure SM98A
• 2 x Shure VP-88
• Boss SP-202 (small sampler), serial #AK42451

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion has decided to opt out of the New York City concerts commemorating Matador Records' 10th anniversary, scheduled for September 23-25 at Irving Plaza.

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Matador Records, the indie label home of Pavement, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Sleater-Kinney, will celebrate its tenth year anniversary in September with two special weekends of shows, slated for New York City and London.

Pole

Related Artists

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Pavement
• Sleater-Kinney

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430679/19990629/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430679/19990629/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml 29 Jun 1999 10:00:00 EDT

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• Damien Jurado
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• Pitchshifter
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• Burning Airlines

]]> http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/i/independentsfeature99.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/i/independentsfeature99.jhtml 1 Jun 1999 12:00:00 EDT
Jon Spencer

In an effort to pump up support for its critically acclaimed but commercially sagging album "Acme," the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will host this weekend's edition of "120 Minutes."

The JSBX, who will go on after fellow "120" guests Limp Bizkit, promise to play their latest video, the Winona Ryder-heavy clip for "Talk About The Blues" [28.8 RealVideo], as well as the group's nugget "Flavor."

The show will air this Sunday at 2 a.m., one day after the Blues Explosion wraps up its recent U.S. tour on its home turf of New York City.

"The Blues Explosion is first and foremost a live band and you know we love to play," frontman Jon Spencer told MTV News recently of the band's notoriously riotous live shows.

"It's an honor to play in front of people who love the music and respond to it, and you know, they give us energy and they keep us going," guitarist Judah Bauer added. "Everyone has a good time which is probably the most important thing."

The band will next take that love of the stage to Japan, where they will launch a tour next year.

Related Artists

• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430680/19981218/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430680/19981218/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml 18 Dec 1998 02:00:00 EST
Jon Spencer

Before launching a brief tour later this month, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion will greet the public at Boston's Newbury Comics next week.

The same day that the Blues Explosion kicks off its tour on December 8, the band will swing by the store for a performance and a meet-and-greet.

The Boston stop marks the beginning of a run that lasts less than two weeks and wraps up in the group's native New York on December 19 at the Roseland Ballroom. The group will then head off to Japan for a tour next year.

If you want to catch the band on the road in support of its latest effort, "Acme," here's where to look:

• 12/8 - Boston, MA @ Avalon
• 12/9 - Montreal, QC @ Spectrum
• 12/10 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
• 12/11 - Detroit, MI @ Clutch Cargo's
• 12/12 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
• 12/13 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave.
• 12/15 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore
• 12/16 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
• 12/17 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropol
• 12/18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
• 12/19 - New York, NY @ Roseland

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• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

]]> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430681/19981201/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml News Article http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1430681/19981201/jon_spencer_blues_explosion.jhtml 1 Dec 1998 07:55:00 EST Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Bellbottoms

Bellbottoms

• Artist: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Label: Matador/Capitol
• Director: Tom Surgal
• Album: Orange

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8998 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8998 18 Apr 2000 12:00:00 EDT Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Dang

Dang

• Artist: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Label: Matador Records
• Director: Steve Hanft
• Album: Orange

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8993 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8993 18 Apr 2000 12:00:00 EDT Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Talk About The Blues

Talk About The Blues

• Artist: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Label: Matador/Capitol
• Director: Evan Bernard
• Album: Acme

]]> Videos http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8999 http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=708&vid=8999 20 Oct 1998 12:00:00 EDT